Guide Me in This Battle for Your Honor
by PsychoBlonde
Summary: Three people one secret, what is it that they're hiding? A trip through the gate changes the whole way of looking at the world and its history, but what is this secret? And what is a cursed child? Pairing: John/Rodney and Evan/Carson
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO!**

In a way this is a crossover with PJO, you'll notice how when you read, at first I had thought of having Thalia making an appearance but in the end decided against it, although Clarisse is mentioned!  
There is no sex scenes just some fluff and stuff like that, if you **DON'T LIKE** then** DON'T READ**!  
ENJOY!

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**ONE  
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Earth, living in America had been a constant battle of survival, never being able to stay too long in one place without attracting too much attention; his life had been one big move. His mother had never complained she had gotten the biggest gift she could ever have hoped of from a god, and quite frankly he could not deny his mother that pleasure but sometimes he really wished that he was normal.

Not having ADHD, or a dyslexia which made it almost impossible for him to concentrate, not having to fight monsters and see his friends get struck down by monsters, a life where his mother still was alive and not killed by monsters because she could see through the mist, a life where he did not have to look over his shoulder all the time. He could not even imagine it, not anymore, he had done it often when he was younger now, many years later and many more years wiser he would not change his life for anything, it was harsh and cruel most of the time but on the same time it was exciting and different, it was his own to do with as he chose.

Of course, things like the ADHD he could do without, it had saved him many times, and it was one of the reasons he was such a good soldier but on the same time, he had a hard time sitting still leading to many people thinking ill of him, a big bummer at the start of his career, now when he thought about it the did not think many people knew he had it, most probably thought he was just impatient and one of those people that just could not sit still, which in a manner of speaking was true.

Rubbing his eyes, John threw the small magnifying glass look alike on the desk. He had been fighting with his paperwork for hours and it was due the next day. He liked being the military leader on Atlantis what he did not like, was the paperwork. How Major Lorne did it, John had no idea, it almost looked as if the man liked doing paperwork, or maybe not liked, more like he had to do it and because he actually followed orders he did it in time and not like John who always did his in the last minute.

Like so many times before John thanked his father that he had his, what he had christened the converter, magnifying look alike which translated the English into Greek for him, making it easier for him to read. John had always liked Greek better than English, mostly because he could read it without getting a headache or the letters jumping around on the paper when his brain tried to read it in Greek, well ancient Greek if he was to be precise. He had gotten the converter when he was ten, when his school marks suffered the effect of his dyslexia not to mention his ADHD, which had gotten him thrown out of several schools.

John's grumbling over his bad luck as an half-blood was cut short by the door to his office slamming open by Rodney.

"Come on Sheppard! It seems as if Lorne's in some kind of problem," said Rodney, pulling John with him to their meeting room.

"What?"

"Major Lorne and his team went to investigate this one planet and now it seems as if the people there want to sacrifice him to their gods," explained Rodney just a tad bit impatiently.

"And the others?"

"Well that's the weird part, they let the rest go even offered them to stay," said Rodney, actually sounding surprised, "it was only Major Lorne they seemed to have a problem with, but I really don't know the details yet because I had to run around looking for a certain Lt Colonel."

"I'm so sorry that I actually do some work now and then," muttered John but he was a bit worried. It was not often that the people had a problem with Lorne, and if they did, then they usually had a problem with all of the members on the team.

When John and Rodney arrived at the meeting room, Dr Weir, Dr Beckett, Teyla, Ronon and Dr Parrish who were on Lorne's gate team were already there. John smiled sheepishly but did not say anything instead he sat down in his chair before he turned to Weir with a curious expression on his face.

"Good for you to join us Colonel Sheppard," said Weir.

"So what is it that I hear about the Major," said John, his stance lax and seemingly none faced by what he had gathered but the people in the room knew he was as perplexed about the situation as the rest, "if someone could tell me how it all happened."

"Its better if Dr Parrish tells you," said Weir motioning for Parrish to tell the odd story once again.

"Well…" started Parrish sitting down in one of the chairs he had earlier been occupying, "first when we arrived on the planet we thought there was no one living there, but when we got further away from the gate we were met by people. They seemed nice enough, from what I heard they spoke some kind of Greek, that I'm sure of, but they also spoke other languages that we understood. They told us we had to meet their leader and so we of course went with them. That's when things went bad, and really odd."

"Odd?" asked John, he did not like the sound of that, he had a gut feeling something was happening, and that things would not be the same on Atlantis after it.

"First of all, they lived in houses you could probably find somewhere in the middle east and it did not look as if they had been bothered by the wraith, but they did not have a ZPM or anything like that," explained Parrish not looking at John but down at his hands as if he was trying to remember everything as exact as possible, "either way, when we got there we were guided to their leader. I'm not sure how to explain what happened, she –their leader– stepped forward she smiled and welcomed us, and then she had some kind of stone/jewel that she got close to Major Lorne started to glow bright blood red and she looked satisfied but then it turned a dark blue almost as if it was black, and then…"

John had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Jewel? A jewel that glowed?" asked Rodney sounding interested, "could it have been an ancient device?"

"Rodney, not now," shushed John, turning his full attention towards Parrish, "and what happened then?"

"Well… when it turned dark blue, first she stared at it in disbelief then she turned really cold staring at the Major, the odd thing was it almost seemed as if the Major knew what that jewel was."

"That was it?"

"No, she said something about being a liability and some other stuff, probably very rude stuff but I have no idea what as she spoke them in that Greek sounding language, or maybe it was Greek just an older version of it…" said Parrish trailing off for a second or two before he continued, "then she told her people to arrest the Major and that he was to be an sacrifice to the gods, to show her goodwill towards them, the rest of us she didn't care much about, if we had wanted she'd have let us stay and enjoy ourselves."

"I have one question," said John his appearance and voice calm but on the inside he felt a bit mushy, he had suspected for some time now that the Major also was a half-blood and now in a somewhat indirect way he had gotten his answer, even though there were still a few blank spaces. "Why are you here and not the Major?"

"He's still there on the planet as a prisoner. Thank God, Stackhouse somehow made a deal with the leader that they would not sacrifice him before we had had a conference and if he was not to be executed then there has to be some kind of substitute," said Weir, in John's opinion she was not all that clear on what had happened and what the substitute would be.

"Who'll be going?" asked John, but he already had an inkling to who would be there, when they would try to negotiate Major Lorne free.

"You, me, McKay, Carson and Teyla," said Weir.

John nodded, it did make sense that they would be going, and if he was lucky he would get out of his without blowing his cover. He liked it when people did not know, especially as there were no monsters in the Pegasus Galaxy, which also meant that there was no mist to cover up weird stuff. He had enough of a hard time trying to keep his ability to heal faster a secret and that he could take much harder hits than the average man on Atlantis, which usually resulted in people thinking that he tried to play down his injuries.

"Then, let's not waste any time," said John, already halfway out the door, "we're leaving right now, aren't we?"

"Yes, Colonel we're leaving right away," confirmed Weir. "Oh yes, Lt Cadman and Lt Meyers will also be coming with us, if things run out of hand."

John was not listening to Rodney who was talking on about the chance that they had found some ancient device, and by the looks of it, that was what the others thought too. It really sucked to be the bearer of bad news, and he was certainly in no hurry to prove them wrong. There were always so many questions and he really did not want to standout more than he already did with his gene and all.

Being a demigod was by far the weirder part of him, and he really did not want people to think of him as a freak.

John watched as the gate was dialed. He had been fascinated by the gate from the first time he stepped through it and even after so many times of stepping through it, it still made his heart race and all his reflexes to stand on edge of what was to be found on the other side. Glancing to his right side, John saw Cadman staring at the gate with a determined expression on her face, ready to act at the smallest of sounds. He had always liked Cadman, she knew what to do and she did not lose her head when things got hot.

Weirs stepped first through the gate, the others followed, John, Teyla, Cadman and Meyers were the only ones wearing the uniform indicating that they were military, and so the only ones carrying guns.

Warm weather, all kinds of green colors and blue skies was the first thing John noted when he stepped out on the other side of the gate. It was a nice planet, one of the better ones, especially if the wraith kept away from it. They had not gotten far from the gate before they were met by two males and three women, one glance was all it took for John's fears to be confirmed they were all wearing Greek styled armors and weapons, who were to show them the way. Hundreds of different reasons to why he would have to go back to Atlantis floated in John's head but he knew he could not leave Major Lorne and because it would look even more suspicious if he tried to leave now.

It was as nice as Parrish had described it but John could not appreciate it properly, he had been struck with the question, how had belief in the ancient Greek gods and goddesses spread from earth to the Pegasus Galaxy.

"Welcome strangers, I am Hesperia."

John watched with mixed curiosity and on the same time suspicion a beautiful woman walking towards them, by the ogling looks Rodney was giving her, he thought so too. She was smiling, radiating a certain softness but John could see the muscles on her arms and the way she moved, she was a force to be reckoned with.

"Thank you," said Weir greeting the other woman.

"Do you wish to get anything to drink, or maybe some wine?" asked Hesperia, motioning for them to follow her into a huge building.

"If I may say, I had hoped we could get this small misunderstanding over first," said Weir, her voice light but firm, a tone John was overly familiar with.

Hesperia stopped for a moment, and John saw she was not very pleased but she kept her poker face on.

"Of course," said Hesperia in a pleasant voice, her smile never leaving her face.

First when they were well inside of the house, they were directed to a room, probably a room where meetings were held, seated and served both wine and bread, let Hesperia Weir talk.

Hesperia listened attentively to what Weir had to say, it was completely quiet in the room except for Weir's voice. Hesperia did not open her mouth before Weir was finished and had settled back in her chair.

"Doctor Weir, I understand that you think the way you do but I cannot let him go, this evening in the name of the twelve Olympians I will sacrifice him," said Hesperia as if she was talking about flowers or something else which did not involve killing someone.

"Why the Major?"

John had almost forgotten that Carson was also there, the doctor had been so quiet up until now.

"He is cursed, marked by the gods, it is my duty as a daughter of Athena to make sure he stands as no treat against Olympus," said Hesperia in a voice which could have cut through steel before it  
softened and her face was once again covered by the serene smile, "then again, I do not expect a mere mortal to understand."

A surge of annoyance went through John, if there was something he hated about some demigods and immortals look on normal people, the way they looked down on them just because they were not gods or because they did not live forever.

"You do not agree with me?" asked Hesperia, she had noticed his annoyed huff and the way his body had stiffened. She was looking him straight in the eyes and he could do nothing but look straight back at her, the others were looking with curious gazes between them.

"No I do not," said John his voice curt, "and neither do I think that you have the right to look down on mortals."

A gasp of surprise escaped Hesperia, the others were confused, and Cadman was having a bad feeling a small tugging at the back of her brain told her the Colonel was a bit more than a normal person.

John watched as Hesperia took out something from her pocket, it was a diamond shaped jewel, strapped to a golden chain, and he could see the faint contour of an owl on it. What happened next was something no one at the table would forget easily. Cadman was sitting beside Hesperia's left side, Weir was sitting on the other side, John was sitting two chairs down from Cadman and so when Hesperia moved the diamond to her left it lit up, in a very soft beige color.

"Praise the gods," gasped Hesperia, staring at Cadman with big eyes. Weir, Carson, Rodney and Meyers were staring with big eyes at the jewel, Cadman was swearing on the inside, whilst John was thinking. He was a bit surprised but when he thought about it, it did make sense. He had quite a clear picture of, who her godly parent was, it did not take much guessing and he had always been good at it.

Before anyone had time to react, Hesperia had stood up and walked down two chairs, reaching the jewel towards John, immediately it changed color to a stormy gray, a very intense color. This time it was Cadman who got the few minutes of nothingness to think.

"You are like me, then why do you want to help a cursed one?" asked Hesperia, and John could not detect anything but idle curiosity in her voice.

"Things change," said John, not elaborating or explaining his words.

"Well then there is only one things which can be done," said Hesperia looking at each and one of them, her eyes stopping on John and Cadman piercing them with her stare."

"What would it be?" asked Weir uncertainly as if she was not sure if she wanted to hear the answer. She was not sure if she was hallucinating or dreaming but by the looks of Carson, McKay and Lt

Meyers she was not the only one. Things were happening and she had no idea what to do, at some point she was not even sure she knew what she was doing and even though she just wanted to reprimand John and force him to explain all this, whatever it was to her, she was happy he in some very odd way seemed to know what was going on.

Elisabeth gulped when she watched Hesperia smile, what and odd name, and not a nice one but a predatory and cold smile. Never in her life had she wanted more to be somewhere else than she did right at that moment, a shill went down her spine, all her warning signals were going off in her head.

"Pankration."

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Is it readable? Hope you didn't hated it.  
Please read and review, as with my other SGA story (Stuck in a snowstorm) I've already written the whole story and just want to know whether I should put up the whole story :)  
Would be very happy to hear some opinions :)


	2. Chapter 2

**TWO**

Many things happened after Hesperia uttered that single word. Pankration. In his whole life John had never thought he would have to participate in pankration, but now he had no choice.  
Everything was bit of a blur, John barely remember standing up staring in shock at Hesperia, Cadman frozen to the spot beside him, telling her they would accept if it meant she would let Major Lorne go. A life for a life, and now they would have to give more lives, John sincerely hoped that they would never have to come in contact with Hesperia and her warriors after this. It would not be a pretty fight, there would be blood and people would get hurt.

Not that any of that was of any matter at the moment, if it meant that Major Lorne was safe and ok, for the time being at least, then John would happily participate in the fight. He and Evan had gotten rather close and John had found himself a trusted friend in his second in command. Something he never really had had. He would make Hesperia take back her words, he would not only fight for Evan but also for his own pride and honor, he was a true demigod he was the product of a love between a god and a mortal. Those people there on the planet worshipped gods they had never seen gods they had never felt the blessing of an immortal but John had for he as a true son of immortal gods. So was Lorne and Cadman, this was not anymore only about saving Lorne, this was about so much more on their part, something which only a true demigod could understand.

It annoyed John when he thought of it, out of all the people on the planet, Hesperia was different from the rest, not only in her manners but her looks. There was something about her, something which he could not place his finger on, something which told him she was much more than a descendant of a demigod child. It would do good to keep an eye on her and if not then make sure that they would not cross paths after this, if he got out alive.

Not that any of this was what he was worried about, no he was more worried about what would happen when they would step into their small meeting/conference room and the doors would shut behind their backs. There was so much to explain, so many secrets that had been kept that John was not entirely sure how it would end. By the concerned and concentrated look on Evan's face he was thinking of it too. Cadman was walking quietly, not her usual happy and bubbly self. Not that he was surprised, like John himself they had been fighting their whole life for their lives, hiding their more prominent talents and tell tale signs of their differences. Especially as it was so few demigods that reached adulthood and this far into it, if of course you were not a weaker one.

John guessed that Cadman was a daughter of Hermes, with her sneaky grins and love of pranks he was almost a hundred percent sure she was the messenger god's child. Evan on the other hand, he would have guessed Apollo or maybe Ares if it had not been for Hesperia's comment on him being cursed. There were only one kind of half immortal offspring which in the old days were 'marked' as cursed, these children did not reach 10 and if they did they were lucky, John had never heard that one of them would have survived into their thirties. If not of course someone was protecting them…

Mulling over everything, John could not come up with one sane sentence which would not make this whole thing sound completely crazy. To explain about gods and goddesses was not the easiest of things and then of course explain the terms he (and Cadman in a way) had agreed on with Hesperia for the release of Major Lorne.

John sat down in his chair, the one he had sat in for not that many hours ago listening to Parrish, Evan sat down to his left, Cadman sat down beside Evan, Weir, Rodney and Carson all sat down in their chairs, Teyla had sensed the tension and went to find Ronon, she would hear about what really happened sooner or later and she knew Ronon would want to know what had happened. A tense silence spread through the room, no one knew what to say. So much had happened in such a short time.

"So…" started Weir looking first at John and then at Evan. "If someone could explain to me what happened out there? Greek gods? Pankration? What did she mean by demigods and cursed people?"

"Um…" said John looking helplessly at Evan, who just motioned for him to continue and so John did the only thing he found most rational and successful, "do you know of the Greek gods and the legends and stories surrounding them?"

"In any other situation my answer would be of course not," said Rodney his eyes suspiciously looking between John, Evan and Cadman, "but with all things that have happened then something tells me I should reconsider my answer."

"Are you telling us lad, that the gods are real?" asked Carson.

"Yes," said John simply, he was not really sure how to put it any other way.

"You're telling us the gods are real and all that comes with them?" asked Weir her voice shaking a bit, then again John did not blame her it was a lot of things to wrap one's mind around and they had barley started, oh joy.

"Yes."

"How come no one has found out about it?" asked Rodney.

"The mist," said Evan, John blinked in surprise here he had thought he would have to explain everything on his own, "it hides these things from the eyes of the mortals."

"Mist?"

"Yes, it hides and changes things so to keep the immortal world safe," explained Evan.

"Yeah, when you see a guy with a baseball bat a demigod may see something completely different, a guy with three heads and a sword," said John thinking back to when he was in high school.

"Demigod?" asked Carson.

"Half mortal half god," said John.

"You're telling me there are real ones out there?" asked Weir.

"Yeah, you really think gods would change their ways just because time passes? No, even though there are fewer ones, there are still plenty of us," said John, leaning back in his chair, "how it has spread to this galaxy I want to know, I mean earth is the home of the gods but here, in the Pegasus Galaxy?"

"Christ…" muttered Rodney.

Weir and Carson also looked like they wanted to lie down a bit but it would have to wait.

"Pankration, what is it?" asked Weir, he voice had gotten back a bit of its sharpness.

John took a deep breath, he knew it would come up sooner than later but he knew saying out loud would make it real, more real than it already was and he did not like it. Then again, they had all in a way chosen to participate. He was spared from answering when Evan spoke for him.

"Pankration is a fight to the death," said Evan silence fell over the room when Evan's words were processed, "a fight which have no rules, two people go on the arena but only one comes out."

"Oh my god," gasped Weir.

"A fight to the death!" muttered Rodney rubbing his forehead with his thumb and index finger, "you're mad Sheppard. Who'll be fighting?"

"A life for a life, this is no longer a battle for life but a battle to show who has the strongest patron, who is the one the gods favor," said John with a sigh, "we took her sacrifice to Athena, in her eyes we showed it in her face that Athena is lesser than our patrons, as retribution we will fight to show her who is stronger. If she wins, she will have gotten her sacrifice and retribution, but if we win then we have showed her that our patrons are stronger, get it?"

"No, not really," said Weir with a tired sigh too much like John's for his own liking, "but I dare say I won't understand it much better even if you did explain it again."

"You're demigods, right?" asked Rodney.

John nodded.

"What did she mean by cursed one?"

John saw Cadman sit up straighter in her chair, so she did not know of the cursed children, then again not many did. He was in no position to tell and quite frankly Hesperia could have been wrong, the only one who could prove it was Evan.

"Yes she talked much about the cursed by the gods, thing," said Carson thoughtfully.

"Wait!" interrupted Weir sharply, "firstly demigod, you have a godly parent? Secondly, if you're a child of one of the gods or goddesses, then why would you be cursed?"

"Well the first question is easy," said John before he turned to Cadman looking her in the eyes, she nodded. "I can guess you want to know who they are?"

"Yes," said Weir, Rodney and Carson all on the same time, a bit of eagerness showing in their eyes, then again this was always the most interesting part.

"My father is Zeus, the king of gods and by the looks of Cadman I'd guess that she is a daughter of Hermes, am I right?" said John.

"Yes sir, Hermes is my father, but how can you be a child of the big three? I mean the oath…"

"Believe me Cadman, you don't want to know," muttered John.

"That's kind of cool," said Carson, Weir and Rodney nodded but did not say anything.

"Depends on how you look at it," said Cadman, getting hunted by monsters was not exactly fun but some other things, she could admit, were cool. She had to admit that she was a bit jealous over the fact that the Colonel was a child of the big three, then again with the oath Zeus, Poseidon and Hades had made it was a wonder that he was still alive and living such a life as he was.

"And you Major Lorne?" asked Weir as she had gotten over the shock, it was so much to take in that she could not stop from thinking this was all a very odd dream.

Evan smiled in his usual patient way, his eyes a bit sad and right then John knew that he had been right in his guess, his friend really was one of the cursed children.

"I am no child of an Olympian," said Evan simply, "but my protector and father is Ares, the god of war."

"Huh?" said Cadman, she was a bit confused she had never heard of any cursed people, then again she was not that into all the weird stuff happening on Olympus.

"How can Ares be your father but you're still not a child of a god?" asked Rodney.

"I am the child of an immortal, the gods aren't the only immortal ones around," said Evan smiling at Rodney, "Ares helped me when I was younger took me in like I was a child of his, that is why he is my father."

"That's why your still alive," said John staring at Evan, it was the first time he had met an actual cursed child.

"I don't get it, why are you cursed?" wondered Weir.

"When the gods took over they disposed of all things titan made, it was dangerous. It is a well known fact that the stronger the god is, the stronger their demigod children will be," explained Evan patiently, "the titans were strong and so were the few half-blood children they had, and so a law was set any half-blood child of a titan was to be killed, so that they would not be able to go against Olympus and free the titans."

"There has never been many of them and even fewer of them that are borne live past their fifth birthday," said John a grim look in his eyes, "I did not think there were any alive…"

"That's… that's really cruel," said Weir.

"That's life, the titans were strong, the Olympians barley defeated them, they cannot take the risk that the titans would be aided by their children," said Evan his voice sad.

"This is quite a lot to take in" said Weir but was cut off by Carson.

"Wait! You said on earth, the mist worked on earth, monsters on earth…"

"Well I have yet to run into any monsters except for the wraith and there is no mist at least I think so," said John.

"I haven't noticed it either but I think it has to do with the fact that this place is beyond the gods' realm of power," said Cadman.

"That's an possibility," said Evan.

"Either way, I say we all sleep on this, at least my head feels as if it's going to explode," said Weir dismissing them.

When John was walking back to his quarters he could not help but think on how much his life had changed in one day, all because Major Lorne had gotten captured by Hesperia. Before this he had only suspected that Evan was a demigod, now he knew for certain and he had even found another demigod, Cadman. His life really was not simple.

In one week's time they would know the winner. Six days to prepare and pray, on the seventh they would fight.

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Reviews? PLEASEEEE, you'll get cookies?


	3. Chapter 3

**THREE**

For a millisecond when John woke up the next day, he thought everything which had happened the day before had been nothing more but a bad dream. It did not last long. Curling up beside the solid form lying beside him, John squeezed his eyes shut. Just thinking of the six following days was not something he was looking forward to; it had been a long time since he had held a sword. He was good with it, but there was no doubt he would be a bit rusty even though he tried to stay in shape and keep up with his sword practice.

An arm sneaked around his waist, pulling him closer.

"Don't think so much about it, John. You don't have to get up yet for another hour or so," muttered Rodney, his breath tickling John's neck.

"I can't exactly _not_ think," said John rolling over so that he was lying on his back, Rodney's arm over his stomach, fingers stroking in a soft circular motion over his skin.

"Relax, you're as tense as a brick," said Rodney.

John took a deep breath, feeling how his body slowly relaxed, he had not even noticed that he had tensed before Rodney had spoken of it. Neither of them said anything after that, Rodney thinking over what had happened the day before, John dreading the upcoming days what he would have to do, what Evan and Cadman would have to do.

Weir had decided that they would have an early morning meeting where they would decide how to proceed and what they would do. Would they tell the rest of the crew what was going on, or would they try to keep it down? Snuggling closer to Rodney, John closed his eyes to take a brief nap before they would have to get out of bed and face another new workday full of weird and dangerous things. By the sound of the soft snores and the even breaths coming from Rodney he had already fallen back asleep.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

"Okay," said Weir pausing for a moment as if she was not sure how to proceed, "I know that this whole situation is just a tiny bit weird but we can't do much about it, but we still has to make the best of it."

It was quiet in the room, everyone waiting for her to continue.

"I can't say that I have any idea on how to do this and so I won't."

"Don't worry about that, Doctor Weir," said Evan, he looked well rested and calm, as if this whole thing was not bothering him at all, but John knew better.

"Major Lorne is right," said John, turning around so that he was facing her, "there is not much we can do. Pankration is simple; you fight until one is dead. Because of the oath Hesperia made us swear, we cannot decide not to fight or try to evade it."

"But you said the gods aren't here that they can't hear us then how can that oath be in motion?" asked Carson sounding interested.

"I don't really want to think what Hesperia could come up with as revenge and this is really the simplest way of dealing with her, she did swear that if we won she would not bother us and we won't bother her," said John with a sigh, "whether the gods really are here or not won't matter in the end."

"Either way, the only thing we really can do, is prepare and hope we aren't too rusty," said Cadman.

John and Evan nodded, they agreed with Cadman there was not much else they could do in a situation like this.

"Are you sure?" asked Weir.

"Yes." All three of them answered on the same time.

Weir nodded.

"So… what are we going to tell everyone? I mean it's not as if we can keep this quiet, it's bound to get out," said Rodney.

"Then I have bad news," said Weir with a wry grin, "it seems as if rumors already have started to travel."

"God, there really is no better gossip channel than the one on Atlantis," said Carson half amused half worriedly.

"Well there isn't much else to do here but work and gossip so…" said Cadman blinking innocently; it really was no secret that she probably knew every rumor that was going around on Atlantis, it was almost scary how much she knew and contributed to them.

"Forget the gossip, should we tell them the truth, half the truth or nothing?" said Rodney.

"It's up to Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman how much they're ready to give out," said Weir looking at the people in question.

John stalled he was not sure if it was a good idea to tell everything, the gods would probably not be too happy to hear that they had told more than a few hundred people the ancient secrets but on the same time it would be impossible to hide it.

There was no a single stupid person on Atlantis and if you did not think you could figure it out yourself then there were loads of other people you could ask for help, there was a reason they had gotten on the Atlantis expedition after all.

"I think even though I know I'll probably regret it later on, we should tell them the truth, I mean what are a few gods compared to the wraith," said Evan.

"Yeah you're right," said John with a sigh.

Cadman nodded but did not say anything.

"Are you really sure?" asked Weir with a suspicious look at them. "You're not going to regret it later, I thought there was this mist so that normal people would not find out about demigods and all that jazz."

"With the rumors already starting and with how things are right now, someone will figure it out sooner than later," said John with a shrug.

"By the way, Major Lorne told me a bit more of demigods yesterday, and he said something about ADHD and dyslexia," said Carson.

"All demigods, or at least more than the majority of all demigods have to some extent ADHD and dyslexia," explained John irritation creeping into his voice when he thought of his own, and all the trouble he had had with it.

"How come it doesn't say so in your reports, or well Cadman's does but it doesn't say anything about dyslexia or ADHD in either one of yours files," said Carson.

John had a sly grin on his face, and Evan actually looked a bit proud at what Carson had said. Cadman was looking at them suspiciously.

"Don't worry Cadman, I do have both," said Evan laughing softly at the face she was making.

"So do I," said John.

"Then how come it doesn't show?"

John grinned harder and reached inside of his uniform jacket and pulled out his converter/magnifying glass look alike and gave it to Cadman.

"I'm so jealous, I wish I had had something like this when I was in school, it would have made all reading so much easier," whined Cadman, looking almost green in the face.

"I do have to agree with Cadman," said Evan twisting the small thing in his hands.

"It was a gift," said John simply.

"And the ADHD?" asked Rodney in a dry voice, "then again, I think we have all seen the symptoms, no wonder you can never sit still."

John grinned sheepishly and this time it was Evan's turn to look smug. It actually made John a bit curious.

"You look absolutely too smug for my liking," grumbled Cadman, looking at Evan.

John watched as Evan pulled out a small bottle filled with pills, placing it in front of himself on the table.

"They make the ADHD a bit more lenient, makes it possible for me to concentrate better and stops me from blurting out what I'm thinking," said Evan.

"I could have done with those in school," commented John looking at the small bottle, "your ADHD must be strong."

"Yeah, it's as if my body is extra ready for a fight," said Evan a nostalgic look in his eyes, but there was also a tinge of regret in his voice, "I was 17 when I got them."

"Lucky bastards," muttered Cadman.

"My ADHD is strong too," said John absentmindedly, "it must have something to do with the fact that you're immortal parent is not a god but a titan."

"Probably," said Evan with a nod but he did not explain further. So far he had been very tightlipped about which titan was his parent but the fact that Ares acted as his dad was almost enough proof for John to come to the conclusion that it was one of the male titans.

Not that John was going to pry, he knew from firsthand experience how dangerous it could be when your parent was not supposed to have any children, and we was only a son of Zeus at least he had the protection of Olympus, Evan was not as lucky. Instead of being protected by them, he was hunted in some of the cruelest ways, never safe from the wrath of the gods.

"So if no one has anything to add then I think we're done for now," said Weir she had loads of paperwork to do and she would have to make a some kind of report for the SGC about this and so she would need all time she could get to make a full report minus all about the part that the Olympian gods are real.

No one had anything to say, there was not much to say in the first place as there was not much for them to do.

"Who will make the announcement?" asked Cadman.

"What announcement?" asked Rodney, the others in the room agreeing with him.

"About the pankration, Hesperia will want everyone there to watch as we lose, even though we won't because I don't want to die. And didn't we just decide to make sure people don't listen to the rumor mill," said Cadman.

"Oh, I'll make the announcement," said Weir.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Gods, demigods, monsters and mists, it all made his head spin and in the middle of the whole mess, well not exactly mess but chaotic situation stood John Sheppard, Lieutenant Colonel extraordinary and the Captain Kirk of the Atlantis expedition just thinking of it made Rodney's head spin.

They had been in a relationship for almost three years had John had not even once even nudged at the subject, then again it was not exactly something which came up in a normal conversation and they were rather busy saving Atlantis for most of their time. Then of course, there was the little thing that there was not supposed to be ancient Greek gods in the Pegasus Galaxy, which made him wonder how they had gotten there in the first place but with how things looked right now, Rodney did not think he would ever get an answer to the question.

It was all rather odd and he had thousand of other questions that he hoped John would have the time to answer at some point before this pankration. He had a hard time grasping the fact that something as coarse as fighting to the death had been a huge sport back in ancient Greece, and that people today still did it. Rodney was not going to admit that he was worried about John, the man had a knack for getting hurt and into odd situations, he had already managed the odd situation so now there was only the life threatening and insane part left and it worried him more than he would ever let on.

Most people would probably still have a hard time grasping the supernatural touch and that these things were real but when you had been living in the Pegasus Galaxy, worked at Area 51 and worked in the SG program then a few puny gods which could kill you in some of the most gross and horrible ways not that surprising.

At least not for Doctor Rodney McKay, there had always been something extra about John, which had intrigued and interested Rodney in the first place. They had not known each other for a very long time before they had already formed a tentative friendship which not long afterwards had turned into something more.

Love, it was a weird word. It was not a word that Rodney used very often and even less when it came to human relationships but when he thought of John that was one of the first words he thought of. Over the years they had known each other Rodney knew he had gotten further behind John's personal shields than most people would do in a life time, and knew that the man loved him back. John did not say it out loud but he showed it through respect and action and right now he was scared to death that Rodney would not want anything to do with him because of what he was. Something Rodney was going to make sure that John never thought again, but right now both of them had work to do.

For some odd reason Rodney found it very fascinating this whole thing with Gods and goddesses. John had of course explained some things of the life of a demigod but not much. If Rodney had understood right then there was a camp for demigods where they learned to use real swords, archery and lots of other stuff how to survive. Another thing John had explained why he was so surprised that there were three of them on Atlantis, was that demigods did not live very long and most did not survive into adulthood.

John had also explained something about how demigods smelled, well at least to monsters which was what attracted the monsters to the demigod, the stronger the demigod was, the stronger was the smell which meant there were more monsters after you.

In all honestly John had only told snippets of his life but Rodney could not do but feel relieved that he was totally normal, the life of a demigod sounded cool and all but in reality it was a hard life. He had even gotten an explanation of why most demigods had ADHD and dyslexia, and even though Rodney was not jealous over the dyslexia part he was a bit jealous that John knew how to speak ancient  
Greek which Major Lorne and Cadman probably also did. Brains hardwired for battle and ancient Greek, the scientist in Rodney just itched to make a few tests.

There was so much to find out, to know and they had barely scratched the surface of heroes, myths and legends from thousands of years back. This was probably one of the most interesting things that had ever happened and Rodney did count finding Atlantis into this category.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Good God was the only thing Carson could think of when he left their second meeting. Evan had explained a bit about what being a demigod meant and about almost anything Carson asked of him. It was etched into his memory the worried look Evan had given him that evening when they had gotten back to their shared quarters (or well Carson's room but he did not think of it as his), worry that he would leave and not come back. Not that he would do that; it would take a bit more on Evan's part if he would want to get rid of him.

Everything was a bit chaotic in his mind but Carson was not surprised with the amount of new information he had gotten the day before and that morning. He was quite sure there was much, much more to come but that was for another day and another time.

Right now Carson could not do much more than support and make sure that Evan was okay, with the amount of paperwork and the upcoming pankration and the stress that would accompany it, Carson hoped that the younger man would not be too stubborn in his tries to do everything on his own. His worry reached as far as to John, who had similar tendencies and probably even stronger ones than Evan to handle things on his own, but on the same time Carson knew that Rodney would look after the Colonel. Rodney may be an egotistical jerk at times but he really loved and cared for John.

Carson sighed. He was worried and on the same time curious, these upcoming days would be interesting to say the least, he did not even want to think of the possibility that Evan may not come out of this alive.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Worry was carving its way through John's body, since he had left the second meeting he had not been able to stop himself from worrying about what Rodney was thinking of this whole thing. He was not surprised if the genius would want to leave him. Even though he had been okay with it the evening before did not mean he was okay with it now, after all he had had all the night and now today time to come up with hundreds of reasons why he would not want to associate with John. Because why would anyone want to be with someone who is followed by bad luck and crazy murderous monsters?

In a way, deep down inside of himself, John knew that these thoughts were completely mad but a small portion of his brain clung to the grain of worry of being abandoned. He was not sure if he could take it because he really loved Rodney even though he never really had said it aloud.

When he had walked down the corridor to speak with Teyla and Ronon to explain what was going on and what was to happen, people had already been whispering in the corridors. John knew that by the time Weir would make her announcement there would not be a single person on Atlantis who would not know at least something of what was going on. It worried him but on the same time it did not.

Here on Atlantis it really did not make much of a difference, whether people knew or not, earth on the other hand was a completely different matter even though they would not be able to see through the mist. As Athena had told him once, it was always a liability when a mortal knew.

"There you are."

"Rodney…" said John turning around to look at Rodney who had just stepped out on the balcony. "I…"

"You what? Thought that after I had had some time to think would leave you because of this?" stated Rodney in a matter of fact voice but softer than usual.

John opened and closed his mouth a few times but no sound came out, sometimes it really annoyed him that Rodney knew him so well but not today.

"Come here," said Rodney.

Biting in his lower lip, John took a few steps towards Rodney and was pulled into a strong and warm hug. It was odd, how comfortable and safe he felt when Rodney hugged him, just kept him close.

"Sorry…" mumbled John.

"Don't be," said Rodney with a small sigh, "we'll get through this like we have gotten through everything else."

Instead of answering, John buried his face in Rodney's shoulder his grip tightening on Rodney.

"I love you John, I really do. It'll really take more than monsters and wraith to change my mind," said Rodney.

"I… I love you too Rodney," mumbled John his voice barely a whisper but Rodney heard it.

Never in his life had Rodney felt such joy over a few simple words, he had heard them many times before but never before had they meant so much to him as when John said them. It felt as if he could take on a whole armada of wraith on his own, it was an amazing feeling, this was love.

Gripping gently John's face between his hands, Rodney pressed a hot kiss to John's perfect lips, enjoying the sweet taste of John's mouth.

* * *

Reviews? Anyone?


	4. Chapter 4

**FOUR**

John was feeling more relaxed the next morning than he had done the other day, the long run he had taken with Ronon and the sparring session with Teyla really had done wonders for his mental state. Doing different kinds of physical workouts always made him feel better, made it easier for him to concentrate. Maybe it was because he was a demigod or maybe it was just personal trait in him, John did not know.

There was no doubt about it, Weir had already spoken to the personnel on Atlantis about what had happened, there were always people looking at him, saying hello to him in the corridors, but now he could see open curiosity in their eyes, when they stopped to say hello he could feel their eyes on him. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable but he did not let it show, instead he put on his normal relaxed smirk. If he strained his ears enough, then he could hear them talk, snipped up small parts of the conversations going on around him.

Quickening his pace, John headed straight for his office, which was separated from Evan's with a glass door/wall although they usually kept it open so that they could talk with each other. It did not surprise him that Evan was already sitting by his own desk doing paperwork, it was not often that John was first in and today was no different from the others. When John arrived at the office then Evan had already been there for almost an hour doing paperwork, looking over duty roosters and so on.

Opening the door quietly, John stood in the doorway looking at his friend, and for the first time John actually noted the irritated frown that marred Evan's normally smooth forehead. His eyes fixated on the paper in concentration, the small huffs off annoyance were the only sounds in the room.

"Morning," said John and stepped into the room.

"Good morning, sir," said Evan putting down his pen, happy for the small distraction from the evil paperwork.

"Have you got anything done?" asked John and flopped down in one of the chairs on Evan's side of the office.

"No not really," said Evan with a groan.

John did not hesitate nor think before he took out his small converter and placed it in front of Evan, it was not as if he had planned to do any paperwork that day either way. Looking over a few duty roosters was not as hard as reading long reports with tiny text, he would manage fine without the converter.

"Sir?"

"Try it," said John motioning for Evan to pick it up, "it'll make the paperwork much easier believe me."

"Thanks John," said Evan.

"Nah, it's nothing," shrugged John.

Walking back, to his own desk, John started to look through the mountain of papers on his desk; most of it was mission reports. Just by looking at the crazy amount of work, John felt all his energy seep out of him. Putting his head in his hands, John let out a low suffering groan; he could hear Evan swallow his laughter and instead it came out as a half choking sound.

He really hated paperwork, everything else was done by computer but not the damn paperwork it was so annoying. Shuffling all of it onto the floor and off his still very full desk, John started to look for the duty roosters and holiday roosters. Because of a recent attack from the wraith they had lost a few good men and so now he had to fill up a few spots on three SGA teams, he even had to make a whole new SGA-9 as all of the former members were killed when a wraith dart crashed into their puddle jumper as they were on their way back to Atlantis. Just thinking of the accident made him sad, the SGA-9 had been a good team and it was a great loss for Atlantis. Major Tilney who had led the team had been a good and responsible man who most people had liked; even John had found himself engaged in a few talks about football with the man.

After a bit of digging and scuffling through the papers, John found what he had been looking for. With his pen in hand John started to put in new members, it was always a hard job as the people on a team usually were so close that it was hard to get used to a new face, and that was why it was so important that the new person would get along with the older members, or else there would be big problems and John really did not want to deal with it. He deliberately left the creation of a new SGA-9 until last, as it would take the longest. He had a few ideas on who to put on it, but he was not sure if he was making the right choice.

Not having his converter really slowed him down but he was in no hurry so he took his time as not to make a mistake, and he could feel a slight headache forming just behind his right eye.

"Sir? John?"

"Huh?"

John looked up from his papers. Evan was standing in front of him, holding the converter in his hands as if he was worried it would break.

"I just thought that you would want it back and maybe you'd be interested in a cup of coffee, it's already twelve o'clock," said Evan.

"Thanks and yes a cup of coffee would be nice," said John getting up from his chair. He had not even noticed that so much time had passed; he had been putting together new teams for over two hours.

"Good, because I don't want to face all those looks alone," said Evan.

"Yeah, it's weird," muttered John rubbing his neck, "I mean… I'm used to them looking but it was a bit creepy when they looked as if they would want to cut me open and run a few tests."  
Evan laughed dryly beside him, nodding his head in agreement. They walked in silence through the halls, the short distance to the mess hall.

It was quiet in the mess hall, most people were working at this time of the day but some people were seated by the tables, chatting and drinking coffee. Mostly it was marines not on duty or training, scientists which were not stuck with a very time consuming project and nurses who did not have anyone to treat as the infirmary was empty.

Sweeping his eyes over the hall, John saw Carson sitting with Doctor Brown a top surgeon from Germany. Taking his coffee, John followed Evan as he made his way over to Carson and Doctor Brown who both seemed happy to see them.

"Good day, Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne," said Doctor Brown making room for them to sit down, "good that you came, now I don't have to feel bad about leaving Doctor Beckett alone."

"Leaving already?" asked Evan.

"Someone has to be in the infirmary if someone would want something and unfortunately I drew the short straw," said Doctor Brown wishing them a pleasant day before she left.

John, Evan and Carson all watched her walk out from the mess hall, a cup of coffee in her hand talking with one of the nurses that were on duty and also was on the way to the infirmary.

"So what have you two been up to?" asked Carson.

"Paperwork," said John with a pained expression on his face.

Carson laughed good heartedly at that. It was no secret that Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard hated paperwork more than he hated the wraith.

"And you? There isn't much work, is there," asked Evan of Carson, taking a sip of his coffee.

"No there isn't, the infirmary is almost empty except for Murray and his shattered left leg," said Carson.

John winced, having a shattered leg was not a pleasant experience, when he was about fifteen he had ran into a Cyclops and he had gotten out of it with a smashed leg, thanks to Apollo it was completely healed now, but sergeant Murray was not going to be that lucky. No one knew yet how it would end, there was nothing which said Murray would not be able to make a full recovery but most probably he would be sent back to earth and if possible work for the SGC.

"I don't think I ever heard how he ended up with a hurt leg," said Evan.

"Sergeant Murray and SGA-7 found some people living on planet F6F-231," explained John taking a sip of his coffee before he continued, "it seems that they were not overly welcoming and then one of the natives though Murray was flirting with his fiancé and so beat the shit out of Murray."

"Poor bastard," said Evan with a wince, "did he really flirt with her?"

"Don't know," said John, he had never figured it out and Murray had not said anything about it.

For a long time they sat there chatting about stuff, of recent thing which had happened on Atlantis and of when the next delivery would come with the Daedalus, nothing in particular.

John did not even notice when the mess hall slowly started to fill with people, it was the two o'clock coffee and sandwich time that most people had adopted from the Englishmen that were on Atlantis and always had tea and some sandwiches at two o'clock sharp.

"Scoot over."John almost choked on his coffee when he was puffed in the side and Rodney sitting down beside him with a huge coffee mug and some food.

"Hello to you too, Rodney," said John.

Not long after Rodney had sat down, appeared Cadman in the mess hall looking a bit rugged and Evan waved her over. It had not come as an surprise when he had found out that Evan and Laura were good friends and sometimes went jogging together in the mornings.

"Hello," chirped Cadman sitting down beside Evan so that she was sitting across the table from Rodney.

Falling back into his own thoughts John did not listen to the conversations' going on around him, or at least not for a short while. He was pulled back from his head by Rodney who nudged him in the side, sliding the plate with sandwiches towards him, looking at him with that 'you eat too little' look. With a sigh, John picked up the smallest one, chewing slowly on it.

Evan and Cadman were telling Carson and Rodney about their earlier lives, or Cadman was moaning over all the times she had been expelled.

"I mean, it wasn't my fault that some idiot tried to grab my ass and that I punched him in the face and broke his nose in self defense," complained Cadman.

John snorted and Evan laughed, Carson and Rodney looked a bit perplexed but not surprised, they had both known Cadman long enough to not get surprised by her antics.

"Laugh all you want Evan," muttered Cadman, poking him in the side, "it's not fun being expelled because of violence."

"How many times have you been expelled?" asked Carson.

"About ten times," said Cadman counting on her fingers, "not that it's unusual for a demigod to be expelled. Because of the training that we do and because of our heightened senses and stuff, demigods  
are much stronger than the average mortal. Getting into fights isn't that unusual."

"She's right," said John thinking of all the fights he had gotten into, "people love making fun of the dyslexia and ADHD as if we're more stupid than them just because of it."

"And so you fight?" said Rodney sounding skeptical.

"No, but the ADHD does make us more willing to fight. Personally I just kicked their asses to make them stop annoying me," said John.

"So did I," said Cadman nodding her head up and down, "and that's why I got expelled not that I got into many fights, I got expelled because of pranks and stuff, pick pocketing."

It was really clear that she was a Hermes kid, the casual way she spoke of theft and pranks combined with her facial features made it hard to miss.

"I only got expelled twelve times," said John proudly with a grin on his face.

"You Major? Did you ever get expelled?" asked Rodney.

Evan had been unusually quiet the whole time they had spoken of fighting and being expelled, noted John.

"Oh, I was only expelled five times," said Evan but it was clear he did not wish to speak about it.

"Superior strength," said Carson moving on from all the talk of expulsion, "does that mean you all has been holding back on tests and not using all of your strength?"

"Why?" asked Cadman looking at Carson doubtfully, "you want to do some tests?"

Carson smiled sheepishly at her and nodded not that John could blame him; it was not every day that you ran into a demigod.

"You three would not mind too much? Just a bit of stamina and strength tests," said Carson looking hopefully at them. Rodney did not say anything but John knew he was also curious.

"We'll see," said John.

"Good, then tomorrow at one o'clock we'll do a few tests," said Carson.

"I didn't…" said John but trailed off, there was no way he would be able to talk Carson out of it, especially as Rodney would highly probably be there too. How he sometimes hated overly curious scientists.

"You fight a losing battle, John," murmured Evan.

"I've noticed," muttered John, drinking the last of his coffee, "well at least I have to get back to work, it's almost three o'clock already."

Evan and Rodney also stood up; they too needed to get back to their work, Cadman who had the day off and Carson who did not have anything to do at the moment stayed. Whilst John and Evan headed for their office, Rodney went back to his lab to scream a bit at his subordinates over their incompetence, the usual stuff.

It was crowded in the mess hall, almost everyone was still there and so when the door shut behind them and they were met with the familiar corridor, it was almost empty. It was startling, the total change from loud voices and much noise in the mess hall to the almost complete silence in the corridors but John did not mind, he liked it when he could hear the computer buzz and sounds coming from the generators on Atlantis.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

"Colonel!"

Stopping John turned only to almost be run over by Weir.

"Doctor Weir."

"Are you on your way to the tests Carson wanted to do?" asked Weir.

"Yes," said John with a sigh, "can't get out of this one, hopefully it won't take too long."

"Good, then we can go together," said Weir and started to walk again.

"You're going to watch?"

Weir laughed and raised an eyebrow at John.

"I think you'll be surprised at how many wants to see it," said Weir.

John groaned, just what he needed, an audience. He had hoped it would only be him, Evan, Cadman and Carson and maybe Rodney. Okay not maybe Rodney, the scientist had made it very clear when they left the mess hall the other day that he would be there.

"Oh joy," muttered John.

"Don't be like that John, they're just curious," said Weir.

"Yeah, on my expense," groaned John.

They continued like this all the way to the infirmary where, Carson, Rodney and Evan already were waiting, Cadman was on her way, she had been training on the mainland and so would be a bit late.  
Carson explained that they would be using one of the security cells for the tests as they were big and you could look down into them from above, as if they were some kind of surgery room. John did not exactly like them and he knew that they held bad memories for Evan when he had been held in one of them after he had pointed a gun at John when he was sleepwalking.

"Okay so this is what we're going to do," said Carson when Cadman arrived, "first we'll test your endurance, you will be making dashes from one side of the room to the other as fast as you can until you can't run anymore, is it clear?"

"Yes," said John and Cadman on the same time, Evan just nodded.

"Good, then let's get started before we get too much of an audience," said Carson indicating at the small group of people standing in the doorway trying to look as if they were not looking and failing miserably, at least in John's opinion.

They were directed to a small room where they would be able to change their clothes to something which would be easier to move in. John dressed in a loose shirt, sweat pants and a pair of trainers, looking at Evan and Cadman they too had thought like him, clothes which were easy to move in but still would not slow them down.

They would show the others just how much they had been holding back, and in a way it scared John on how  
he others would react when they found out.

John let himself be prodded and poked, his pulse was taken, scans over his musculature and lungs etc was done before Carson let them go into the room for the start of the tests. Everything was going to be checked and made sure that nothing life threatening would occur while they were being tested. When they finally got in place to start, John noted that the audience had already gotten bigger from what it had been when they had gotten there. He could spot a few of Cadman's friends and a few more familiar faces but he tried not to think of it. Rodney, Weir and Carson were the only ones except for him, Evan and Cadman who were authorized to be inside the room but it did not stop everyone else from looking from the doorways or any other way that made it possible for them to watch. John had to admit that they were persistent and full of ideas, or else they would not have gotten past Carson.

"On my mark, three, two, one, GO!" said Carson clicking on a timer.

Running back and forth, back and forth, John stopped counting the laps after he had gotten to 73, Cadman and Evan held their own not looking in the least tired. John estimated that when it came to endurance they were all quite well matched.

It felt good to run like this, he did not have to think or do anything but run, his body moved on its own back and forth. Sweat ran down his back, his breath got heavier but he kept on pushing his body, he knew he could keep on running for a long time.

Silence filled the room except for some excited whispers that erupted now and then, everyone were looking in mild surprise and astonishment at the three running people, dashing across the room, crouching down so that the whole of their palm touched the floor before they got up and dashed back to the other side to do the same thing over and over again.

They kept on running for over three hours almost four before Cadman stopped, breathing heavily, pretty much collapsing when she crouched down to touch the floor but never got up. Eva and John did not last much longer, it felt as if his legs were on fire, his head felt a bit dizzy, John was overwhelmed by the desire to puke but nothing came up.

Immediately as they stopped running, there was a nurse helping them up checking them over. After the nurses it was Carson's turn to make sure that they were okay, taking their pulse and all the same stuff they had been checked for before they started running.

"Okay, you have half an hour to regain your breathing and then we'll continue," said Carson clapping his palms together twice.

"Ugh, I won't be able to get up from my bed tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," groaned Cadman, and even though John did not say anything, but he did agree with her wholeheartedly in his head.

"Me too Cadman, me too," said Evan with a sigh, taking a sip from a water bottle a nurse had given him.

"At least I'm not the only going through with this torture," muttered Cadman before she was lead away by a nurse to take some lung scans and something odd that John did not understand.

John had already gotten checked over and so he had most time to change shirt and get his breath back. Lying down on a bench, John closed his eyes, it was quieter and no people in the dressing room than outside. He could hear the voices seeping through the thick walls and the heavy door that separated the two rooms.

He woke up when he felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him.

"Wake up John."

"Rodney?"

"Yeah, come on the next step is going to start," said Rodney and heaved John off the bench and onto his feet.

Swatting away Rodney's hand John walked out from the room, readying himself for the next step of the test.

"Good of you to join us Colonel," said Carson writing something on a clipboard, "next test will be power, how much strength do you have."

"Okaaayyy…" said Cadman.

"Yes power, you'll be punching a boxing bag as hard as you can, the bags will have inside of them a device which will count the power behind the punch and of course you'll also kick it so that we'll be able to make a comparison," said Carson.

"Is there a time limit?" asked John.

"The thought behind this is to see how much strength you have not how long you can keep on punching and so you'll do it one at a time, you'll on hit a few hits so that you'll get all into it," said Carson.

"Ok, that isn't too bad," said Cadman nodding her head, "I can go first."

"Good you can make yourself ready, you just have to wait for them to put up the bags," said Carson directing Cadman to the bags and then turned to John and Evan, "you two can choose who'll go next, it's not that big of a deal in which order you do it."

Carson was right; it did not take long for Cadman to finish. They decided that John would go next and then Evan or Evan had very carefully asked John if he would mind much if he went first. There was something in the way he acted that made John suspect that there was something more behind Evan's request.

"So lads, whose next?"

"I am," said John.

Cadman was standing on the side with Weir and Rodney, a nurse checking over her fingers. John watched the bag; it was a totally normal blue bag that was used for boxing nothing special about it.

Getting ready John walked up to the bag, taking a few steps to test the distance between his fist and the bag.

"Ready Colonel?" asked Carson.

"Yeah."

"Just begin in your own pace, the device will capture all your punches, when you've hit as hard as you can then we'll do the same but with kicks instead," said Carson.

"Okay."

John started slow and just let the strength build up, his hits getting harder and harder. When he was hitting his hardest the bag was moving crazily almost swinging off its hinges. His kicks were not even near as hard as his hits but even them were much harder than any normal persons.

"That's good Colonel, I think we're done," said Carson jotting something down on his clipboard, "Major Lorne you're next."

John walked over to where Cadman was standing with Weir and Rodney. Evan was just going to make himself ready for his turn.

"That was kind of cool Colonel," said Cadman grinning at him, "much stronger than mine, how do you think Major Lorne will do?"

"Honestly? I have no idea," said John turning to watch his second in command who had just stepped up to the bag, which looked a bit rugged after both John and Cadman.

What happened next was something John would never forget, he was sure no one else seeing it would forget it either. At first there was nothing extra about Evan, it was clear that he had done some boxing in his life with the way he was moving, but nothing else was there to witness about something being different. That was until Evan started to hit a bit harder, it was mad how hard he was hitting, John had to admit that he was staring with his mouth wide open when Evan put in the last strike, the whole bag moved with such a force that it slammed into the roof.

Silence, a thick and heavy silence that only could be produced by shock filled the room; every single person looking was standing with their eyes wide open jaw down by the floor staring at the major.

"Note: never piss off the major." Whoever said that could not have described what went through everyone's heads better at that moment.

The test continued. John watched intently, his eyes never leaving Evan's body. He had never seen such strength in anyone, not even in some of those Hephaestus kids or real Ares kids, it was mad, it really made him wonder who the titan was that had fathered Evan.

He watched as Evan, light on his feet did the same step as when he had punched, like a boxer he moved forward and then backwards and then he changed and before John's eyes could register it, Evan moved. He twisted his whole body, spinning round his right shoulder, the back of his leg connecting with the bag with a force John had not seen in his life. He watched in fascination as the bag was ripped from the hinges, falling to the floor about a meter away from where it had been hanging.

"Wow," whispered Cadman in awe, "I've seen much as a demigod but that, just wow."

"Couldn't agree more," said John.

Two tests had been done, now they only had one left, as Carson had said, this was a very primitive test as they did not have much time for a more accurate and deep going one. It had been explained that the last test would be about how fast they were, meaning they would have a running competition. It was a reasonable route, not too long but not too short, either.

John did not take it too seriously, it was kind of obvious that Cadman would win, being a daughter of Hermes and all that. Whether he would finish second or last, was not as clear not that he really cared. It was not a competition, they were just seeing how fast they were and most people was of the opinion that if you were running with someone else then you usually ran faster than if you ran alone.

"Ready?" asked Carson, his ever faithful timer in his hand, "good, ready, set, go!"

It came as no surprise when Cadman with ease passed both him and Evan taking the lead. Between himself and Evan they were a bit more equally matched, even though he seemed a bit faster, all the time being about one step ahead of Evan.

They passed a lot of people in the corridors, but John did not have time to register them, the only thing he was able to think of was to run, his eyes firmly locked on Cadman's back. She was about five six steps ahead of him, running in a steady pace.

Nothing exciting happened while they ran; they kept their places all the way from the beginning till the end. Cadman's face was plastered into a grin; she had never doubted that she would come in anything but first. Everyone else on the other hand, seemed a bit surprised by the outcome.

John had not noticed it before, but while they had been running, had Carson, Weir and Rodney somehow gotten everyone else to leave, probably with the threat that they would have to clean all toilets on Atlantis, a heavy and time consuming job as there were lots of them.

"This is quite amazing," said Carson looking at them, "it's amazing how much strength there is in your bodies."

"Nah, of course the immortal part of us helps but demigods do train a crazy amount of time for years, so that we'll be able to survive which really does the difference," said Cadman in a light voice, "of course it's nice when you get into a fight, even though it isn't exactly fair."

"Fights?" said Weir jumping into the conversation.

"Yeah, fights. Ask those two I'm certain they've been in few fights when they were in school," said Cadman.

"Didn't we already talk about this?" asked John thinking back a few hours when they were sitting in the mess hall.

"Yes, but Doctor Weir was not there then," explained Cadman.

"Isn't it a bit unfair with the advantage you have, I mean being so much stronger than the average person," said Weir.

"Yeah but you've got to be able to protect yourself," said John.

"He's right, at least in all schools I went to they loved making fun over my dyslexia or the fact that I only had a mom, and stuff like that," said Cadman.

"Me too," said John with a nod of his head, "I got them to quit fast after I started to give back as much as I got, especially when they started to notice that they were the ones that took the first hits."

John knew that the others were surprised by what he had said and he too was surprised that he had told them something as personal as that. It was not often that he spoke of it, and even fewer between that he thought of it.

"So major, who is your immortal parent?" asked Rodney changing the subject.

"I want to know too!" exclaimed Cadman turning her attention on Evan, "that strength is not normal for a half-blood, it must have something to do with your immortal parent."

"You really want to know?" said Evan looking a bit sad when he said it.

"Yes!" was the reply, John wisely kept his mouth shut; there was something that Evan was not saying. Not that John was going to pry, if Evan did not wish to speak about it then John would not press him.

"My father is the Atlas, holder of the skies, the force that keeps Gaia and Uranus apart," said Evan finally after a few minutes of silence.

Evan did not know why he had told them that. He had not told anyone who his real father was in over twenty years and the person he had told it to then, had been a daughter of Helios, who three years later had been killed by the gods. He could still remember the sickening crunch when she had been crushed; all the blood that had spilled from her body, her scream still haunted him sometimes.

He was standing in his shower, or Carson's shower as he had unofficially moved in a long time ago, washing away the sweat from the day. Evan enjoyed the feeling of hot water falling down over him, his muscles slowly relaxing.

It did not take long, it always felt too short when he was in the shower but then again he could not exactly stand in the shower the whole evening and night. Reaching for the towel, Evan dried his hair before he wrapped it around his waist.

Carson was already on his way to bed, having showered before Evan. He was sitting by his computer, already dressed in his sleeping wear, aka his boxers and a t-shirt, unlike Evan who liked sleeping in pajama pants and a shirt. When they had started to sleep together Carson had joked that Evan slept with more clothes than he wore when he was awake, but it was not as if Evan could do anything about it that he liked being warm. Nowadays when he slept beside Carson, he usually slept with less as he had Carson there to keep him warm.

"Work?" asked Evan sitting down on the bed.

"Not really, just checking my email," said Carson as he turned off the computer, making his way over to the bed, "so want to tell me what's bothering you?"

"Nothing's bothering me," said Evan looking down at his hands instead of at Carson a telltale sign that he was not completely honest.

"Don't lie to me Evan, we both now it won't work," said Carson.

"It's just…" said Evan but stopped in the middle he was not sure on how to precede or if he even wanted to.

He had not thought of that day in many years, mostly trying to repress the memory until it was nothing more but a distant memory like a bad dream.

"Does this have anything to do with all the talk about fighting and all this? You seemed a bit distracted when it came up," said Carson.

"I don't like thinking of it," mumbled Evan, he had yet to look up at Carson on the other side of the bed, "being a demigod isn't easy, it's a dangerous life but at least you have the support of the gods or at least your parent. Being a titan child is even more dangerous, not only are you chased by the monsters but also by the gods."

It was quiet, Carson did not say anything so Evan continued.

"You saw how much strength we can possess, I have so much more of it because of Atlas he is said to be the best titan warrior, he hold up the sky. That power is the same that I possess and it's dangerous, with ADHD and lots of people as John and Cadman said like making fun of you, I…" Evan trailed off.

"You mean…?" asked Carson.

"Yeah," said Evan in a defeated voice, "I just lost control, my whole mind went blank. I sent a guy to the hospital Carson; I hit him and kicked him harder than needed. Christ, the poor guy had four broken ribs, a smashed nose, a punctured lung, broken leg and I snapped six of his fingers! And that was only some of the injuries; he ended up in a coma for a year."

Carson had never seen Evan look more miserable than he did at that moment; he looked more like a puppy that had been reprimanded than a Major in the US air force.

"After that Ares gave me those pills, they relax my muscles a bit which makes the ADHD not as clear, that's why I'm able to concentrate better," explained Evan.

Carson nodded slowly. It really made him sad to see the miserable loon on Evan who had started to twist his hands, biting his lower lip in that totally adorable way, looking at Carson through thick dark eyelashes.

"Come here luv," said Carson spreading his arms, indicating with his hands for Evan to get closer.

He watched as Evan hesitated for a moment before he crawled over the small bed and into Carson's arms, wrapping his own arms around Carson's neck. At first he did not say anything but just rubbed his hands up and down Evan's back in a comforting manner.

"It's okay, we all do stupid things sometimes," said Carson.

"But most people's mistakes don't lead to people ending up in the hospital!" exclaimed Evan trying to pull away from Carson but was kept in place by Carson's arms around his waist.

"Did you feel bad about it?"

"Of course!"

"Have you ever done it again?"

"No!"

"It was self-defense and you feel bad about it and would not deliberately do it again, you're a good person Evan. Never doubt that," said Carson.

He felt Evan's arms tighten their hold, and then a soft nose and a warm breath pressed against his neck and ear. It was not the most comfortable of all positions; Carson was sitting on the bed with Evan in his lap, with his legs on either side of Carson.

"Thank you," whispered Evan.

"You're welcome luv," chuckled Carson.

* * *

Reviews? Anyone, nothing at all?


	5. Chapter 5

"Talkin normally in English"  
"_Talking in Ancient Greek_"

* * *

**FIVE**

It was no surprise, especially as the only ones who knew everything which was going on at the time were John, Evan, Cadman, Weir, Carson and Rodney, that rumors flew around like crazy bees. Stories came and went, some more ludicrous than others, some more flattering some less flattering.

These rumors were what stood as the foundation for the conversation two days before the pankration. Weir had called the five of them to their meeting room to discuss some minor things.

"I just thought, what will you use to fight with? Or do you have weapons with you?"

"Swords," said John simply.

"You smuggled swords with you to Atlantis, why?" asked Rodney bewildered, "I mean there is no way that anyone of you could have gotten a sword with you here without someone finding out."

"Aha! The almighty Doctor McKay doesn't know everything," said Cadman happily, smiling like crazy at Rodney.

"Swords made out of celestial bronze can't be detected by metal detectors, and because of the mist on earth, it covered the swords to look like something else. Also celestial bronze weapons made by the gods, can be made to have another form, for example it can look like a watch and then it'll transform into a weapon," explained Evan.

"I never go anywhere without mu sword, and because there was nothing which said we'd get back to earth after we'd left for Atlantis, I decided to take all my weapons with me which were connected to  
the immortal side of me," said John with a shrug.

"Same here, I don't trust anyone else to look after it, and as I spend most of my time here, it's safer if I have my stuff where I can see them," said Cadman.

"I could never leave my things on earth, they're just a too big part of me to be able to leave it behind," said Evan.

"Good, good, I'm just a bit…" said Weir trailing off giving them a nervous smile.

"Nervous?" asked John smirking at her.

"Yes, you could say that," said Weir with a small laugh, "something like this has never happened to me so I'm a bit anxious."

The others could understand her, she was the commander of this expedition, she was the one responsible for all of their lives this was not easy for her. Being there knowing what would happen but unable to do anything about it but watch from the side.

"I got it!" shouted Cadman jumping up from her chair, her grin if possible had gotten even bigger.

"Got what?" said John something in the way Cadman was grinning made him feel uncomfortable.

"Well Colonel, I just thought that, they don't know how good we're at fighting or how we'll do it, I mean they practically have no idea on how a real swordfight Greek style looks like, and we could need a bit more than our own private training," said Cadman completely proud of herself.

"What a good idea, Cadman," said Weir.

By the look on Evan's face he was about as enthusiastic about Cadman's idea as he was. John quelled a sigh on the inside but did not let it show on the outside. In a way Cadman was right, he had not sparred against anyone since he came to Atlantis, and now when he had been training he had been brushing up on his steps and different attacks. Sparring against a real partner was always more giving than against air, there was no doubt that all three of them could do with a real life sparring partner.

"I know! And we could make it into a small show; I mean have you heard the rumors going around?" said Cadman.

"Show?" said Evan, he did not sound very happy about it.

"Yeah, we make a small arena and then everyone who wants can see when you two spar, giving people a chance to see some real swords fighting and on the same time give everyone some entertainment," said Cadman.

"And which one of us would be doing the sparring?"

"You and Major Lorne of course," said Cadman as if it was the most obvious thing in the world which it probably was for her.

"Oh really," said Evan.

"Well I think it's a good idea," said Weir actually sounding as if she was considering Cadman's idea.

"Don't we get anything to say about this?" asked John but no one seemed to hear him.

"Then let's do it!" said Cadman in a overly excited way, jumping up and down in her seat.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS  
**

Rodney was excited even though he would never admit it. He was looking forward to see the upcoming sword fight between John and Major Lorne, which would start in a few minutes. When Weir had announced that there would be a small sword fight Greek style, people had really gotten excited as people only knew the little that Weir had told them earlier. Of course, there was the thing that it was not every day that you got to see a sword fight between two people who knew how to handle a sword, a real sword. Rodney estimated that almost every single person on Atlantis who was not on duty where they were stuck at one place, was in one of the bigger halls that had been made into an arena with Cadman's help.

"Curious?"

"Christ Beckett, don't sneak up on me! And yes a bit," said Rodney.

"Me too, I have to admit that I'm curious to how this will go, I've never seen a real sword fight with real swords which you can get hurt on," said Carson.

"You mean they can get hurt on, Sheppard explained something that demigods get the worst of both worlds; they can get hurt by both 'mortal' weapons but also the celestial bronze. We, the 'mortals' can't get hurt by celestial bronze," said Rodney.

"Interesting, let's hope they don't hurt each other too badly, I would hate to have to stitch them up this close before the real thing," said Carson.

Rodney did not have the time to produce an answer before Cadman, dressed in what looked like a battle armor from a long time back a sword hanging at her side, stepped up on a table so that everyone would be able to hear and see her.

"Greetings gentlemen and ladies! Today we have gathered here to watch a duel between two people, let me hear you, are you excited?" shouted Cadman, a mighty cheer rose from everyone there, "_Then let us welcome our fighters!_"_  
_  
Rodney and everyone else in the room had no idea what the last thing Cadman said as she said it in a completely different language; he made an educated guess that it was ancient Greek.

"Here they are ladies and gentlemen! Our first fighter, John Sheppard _son of Zeus, father of the sky_!" shouted Cadman.

Rodney was about to lose his jaw when John walked in on the arena, it was John but on the same time it was a completely different person. He seemed more like himself, the armor fit John it did not look odd on him, it fit him perfectly, it made him look even better than before in Rodney's opinion. Judging by some of the stares from the people in the room, Rodney was not the only one thinking like that. Not that he had much time to ogle John before Cadman spoke again.

"Our second fighter, Evan Lorne _a son of Atlas and ward of Ares_!"

Rodney heard someone's breathe hitch and glancing to his right, he could not stop from grinning much like himself only a minute ago, stood Carson with his mouth open staring at Lorne who had walked in onto the arena. He too looked extremely good in his armor, but also like John it did not look as if he had any weapon on him.

"Where are their swords?" whispered Carson.

"Don't know, but probably somewhere," said Rodney.

Both men stood transfixed to the spot, their eyes glued on each of the two persons in the arena.

"Well then _gentlemen you know the rules, three, two, one, begin!"_

Rodney watched in fascination, as did every single other person in the room, when John did a movement with his hand and suddenly the gold wristband with the small object that looked like a sword turned into a real sword, the gold wristband still there on his wrist, Lorne too seemed also to have made a sword appear out of nowhere.

Most people stared in shock, wondering whether they had really seen what they had or if their eyes were just making things up.

"Did you see that?" asked Carson.

"Yeah, yeah I did," said Rodney.

On the makeshift arena, John and Evan were circulating each other, both ready to attack but neither of them wanting to make the first move.

"So have anything else hidden on you?" asked John.

"Maybe I do," said Evan.

"Good then you won't mind me having Ael too."

"Not at all, _Colonel_."

No one else heard their small chat as they spoke too low for their voices to carry over the crowd standing around them.

It was amazing to watch, both John and the Major moved with grace, their swords meeting for a split second only to move apart once again. They were fast; sometimes it felt as if Rodney had missed them moving altogether.

For every strike, for every clang that came from their swords meeting, Rodney felt as if they got more violent. Harder and harder they struck, their movements and stances got more lethal it was mesmerizing and scary all in one go.

Blood. Red crimson liquid dropped to the floor, John had slashed a wound open on Lorne's cheek who then gave back by attacking John, cutting him in the leg.

"Are you sure this is safe? They seem to have gotten a bit too much into it," said Rodney to Carson feeling a bit worried when he looked at how the fight had escalated.

"No, but if it get worse then we'll have to," said Carson.

CLANG!

Lorne's sword flew out of his hand, John had disarmed him. Just as Rodney thought the fight would be over, drew Lorne a small item, it looked like a hilt of a knife, and then like with the sword it suddenly took the shape of a dagger.

Rodney watched with growing horror as Lorne moved quicker than a jungle cat, launching himself at John, actually jumping a good meter into the air, which meant he would slash down towards John making it harder for him to dodge. It reminded Rodney a bit of Achilles from the movie Troy in the beginning of the movie when he kills that huge monster guy.

He was already waiting for all the blood to fly, for John to fall or get hurt badly but just before the strike would hit, Rodney watched in shock as a shield appeared blocking Lorne. Or to be more specific, Lorne somehow redirected his attack so that he touched with his hands on the shield using it as stamp off, doing a pretty volt in the air before he landed behind John on his feet.

It was a beautiful shield, it was round and made out of celestial bronze, around the sides there were carvings symbols written in ancient Greek, Rodney would have to ask John later on what they meant, and in the middle of the shield there was a panther head sticking out. Absentmindedly Rodney noted that the wristband made out of gold that John had been wearing was no longer around his wrist.  
John was sweating a bit; his eyes were locked on Evan's slightly crouching form and the dagger he was holding in his right hand. From what John could see, the dagger was of a Middle Eastern type.

"Haven't seen a knife like that," said John as if they were merely exchanging pleasantries and not fighting each other with swords and knives.

"I know, it's a khanjar from the Qajar Period, beautiful isn't she?" said Evan.

Carson did not catch what John had said or what Evan said in return but he did not particularly care, his only concern was only that they seemed to get a bit too much into the fighting. It was very interesting to watch, they certainly knew what they were doing, swinging their swords.

It was as if they were dancing, their feet light and their attacks fast, a clear indication that they had been doing this for a while. It was not something that you picked up over a night.

He watched as Evan got his sword back, with a sword in his right hand and dagger now in his left, Carson could not help but think how hot Evan looked. John had his sword and peculiar but very impressive looking shield, even though their weapons were a bit different they still fought evenly.

Jumps and twists of their bodies, it was amazing how high Evan could jump, twist his body to get in an lethal strike on John, a strike any normal man would never be able to stop, but John he just raised his shield blocking Evan.

People were cheering them on, some people were cheering on Evan some were cheering on John. There was no doubt that they were both very popular among the personnel on Atlantis. A bit of blood was not something anyone got worried over here, a few bruises and a little blood was just good sport, then again Carson was not sure that everyone really understood how much damage those two could do to each other with the strength that they possessed.

Then, Carson was not sure if he missed something, John attacked and Evan blocked with his sword, while he made a trust with his dagger. This meant that John lowered his shield a bit but Evan got in a lucky kick making John stagger backwards almost dropping his shield in the process. They went on like this for a while before Evan somehow disarmed John of his sword but lost his own on the same time. John stepped forward, Evan raised his dagger and made a fast attack towards John, and then it happened. John let go of his shield, letting it fall to the ground and when Evan got close, John gripped Evan's wrist and swung him with a mighty force, over his head. With a sickening bang connected Evan's body with a table, breaking it into two parts.

First there was silence and then Cadman who had stopped in the middle of her sentence, from where she had been commenting on the match, and with a grin announced the winner.

"And the winner is, JOHN SHEPPARD!" shouted Cadman tapping her hands.

Carson followed Rodney and the two men made their way through the people standing in their way. Both Evan and John had cuts and bruises and Carson would feel much better after he had made sure that both of them were okay and that they were not hurt too badly.

John was panting, once again he had the golden wristband which was not a bracelet on his arm it was about two centimeters broad and had about the same thickness as a ring. On the middle of the band there was a small circle and in the circle was an object which depicted a sword. It was a while since he had had such a good workout and he knew he would feel it in his muscles the next day.

Watching the people around himself John saw as Rodney and Carson fought their way towards him and Evan. Talking of Evan, the slightly younger man looked a bit ruffled but there did not seem to be any broken bones even though John had been worried he had hurt the major with his last stunt.

"Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne. By the gods that was so amazing," cried Cadman suddenly jumping out in front of them.

"Glad you enjoyed," said Evan in his typical sarcastic manner.

John suppressed a giggle behind his hand, not because it was unmanly even though that was part of the reason but because he really did not want to know of what kind of evil plans she could come up with, it was pure self-preservation

"Jesus you two look like two big bruises," said Rodney, he and Carson had finally managed to wade through the mass of people blocking their way.

"Why thank you, Rodney that's really kind of you," said John, swiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"I want to take a look at both of you to see that there are no lasting damages," said Carson.

"Don't worry about them Doctor, they have nothing which some ambrosia and nectar wouldn't be able to cure," said Cadman before she slipped away only to return two minutes later with two mugs filled to the brim with liquid.

"What's that?" Wondered Rodney as John and Evan happily accepted the mugs which were offered to them, gulping it all down in one go.

"Man, I already feel better," said John with a content sigh, he could immediately feel the effect of the ambrosia and nectar.

"That my good Doctor McKay" started Cadman stopping halfway to create a dramatic effect of anticipation before she continued talking, "that was ambrosia and nectar, the food of the gods."

"Food of the gods?"

"Yes my lovely not PhD Doctor, food of the gods, a small amount can give us more energy and heal us, too much can make us burn up," informed Cadman happily.

"Burn you up? Well doesn't that sound nice," said Rodney.

"Oh it's not as bad as it sounds, and either way the effects of the ambrosia and nectar is something every demigod learns about," said Evan giving Cadman a small glare.

"So Major what does yours taste like?" asked John in idle curiosity, he could almost see Cadman's ears perk up at the question.

"Ice cream with cookie dough in it," said Evan with a smile, "and yours sir?"

"Mine? Kiwi."

"Kiwi?"

"Yeah, I like Kiwi," said John.

"I'm not even going to pretend as if I understood what you're talking about," sighed Rodney whilst shaking his head.

"So what you're saying is that you're okay after drinking that, that ambrosia and nectar thing," said Carson.

"Yup, it's a bit sad that it doesn't work on normal humans, they'd end up as a small pile of ash," said Cadman.

"Come on let's move a bit, it's ridiculously crowded in here," said Rodney.

The others agreed with him but in the end it was not as simple as they had hoped to move from one side of the room to the other side. They were stopped at least five times by different people who wanted to say something to either John or Evan. One of the times John was sure there would be some kind of shut down in peoples' brains, it was almost hilarious.

"Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne that was amazing to watch!" it was some of the marines but there were also a few scientists in the group that approached the moving group of five.

"Thank you," said Evan with a smile being as charming as ever.

"Oh we were just wondering sir, if Cadman knows who to speak Greek… then do either of you speak it too?"

"Actually both of us does," said John answering the breathless question by a stuttering scientist, who worked in the language department.

"That's amazing."

"It's almost in programmed into our brains from when we're born," explained Evan.

"Say something in Greek, sir, please Major Lorne," pleaded one of the scientists.

John noted that most people had stopped talking and was listening in on their conversation, it was quite obvious that these four marines and three scientists were not the only ones interested in hearing Evan speak Greek.

"Okay, what do you want me to say? Anything specific?"

"No just something."

"Well… _I have to admit that I'm surprised at the amount of people that fit into this room_," said Evan.

If you would have dropped a strand of hair onto the floor it would have rang through the room as of you would have hit in a metal plate with a hammer. At first John thought it was because of shock but then he had the fortune or misfortune to see one of the males in the room trying to cover the front of his pants with his hands, John almost laughed when he saw the small tent in the man's pants.

Looking around the room that poor soul trying to cover up his boner was not the only one with that problem.

Of course everyone knew that Major Lorne was an attractive man and a person most people had a crush on at least once under their stay on Atlantis but for him to have such an effect on almost every single person just by talking another language was astonishing.

"_Wow, now I know how to get people to do what I want them to do_," whispered John to Evan low enough for no one else to hear it.

"Sir?"

"_I'll just make you talk in Greek and then they'll do anything for you_."

Evan blushed; it went all the way from his neck up over his cheeks not stopping before it had reached his hairline. John sniggered but did not antagonize his second in command further.

It took a good fifteen minutes before most people had recovered from the sex appeal shock, as John dubbed it in his head. Slowly the silence disappeared into nothingness as people once again started to talk and joke with each other. By that time had John, Evan, Rodney and Carson slunk out of the room, Cadman had been stopped by some of her friends just before she could sneak out from the door and so left them.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

John and Rodney walked down the corridor leading to John's quarters. Neither one of them spoke, but they did not have to. John enjoyed the silence; it was nice to have some peace and quiet for his ears, especially after all that had happened that day. The corridor was empty, everyone who were not still in the room that he and Rodney just left, were either in their own quarters or on duty, meaning they were not around.

He bit his lip, hesitating, he was not sure why he suddenly got this weird urge. He had never been one for public displays of affection or much things involving showing different emotions, or at least his real emotions. Pushing his concerns into the smallest nook of his brain, John slid his hand into Rodney's. At first he thought Rodney would pull away, but then he felt a soft squeeze of his hand he relaxed.

An odd sort of feeling made his heart swell a bit, at least it felt like it did and a tiny smile graced his lips.

They kept the silence all the way to John's quarters, and even then they did not say anything before both were lying in bed, showered and teeth brushed.

"Did you see how they reacted when the major spoke?" asked Rodney.

"Yes, why? Should I get worried?" asked John.

"No, I just wondered whether you sound as sexy when you speak Greek," said Rodney.

John's whole face broke into a one big smile and if it had not been so dark in the room then Rodney would probably have laughed at his stupid expression.

"Well who knows," said John.

"What'll you do tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow is a time for prayers."

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Evan was still blushing when he and Carson parted ways from John and Rodney as he slept in Carson's room and not in his own which was situated straight across the corridor from John's. Now, instead of being separated by a small corridor their separated by a whole floor, Carson's room being one floor higher than Evan's.

He had no idea what to say and was relieved when Carson chatted about this and that all the way to their quarters, Evan only needed to answer.

"You know I had no idea you could sound so sexy when speaking another language," said Carson just as they stepped through the door and into private space.

"Um…" stuttered Evan the blush on his cheeks getting more intense.

Carson smiled when he watched his lover blush and stutter. It was almost like a guilty pleasure of his, he loved it when Evan blushed and stuttered like that, getting all flustered. Helping Evan get out of his armor, Carson waited until the younger man had showered and gotten ready for bed before he continued.

"You make me so jealous when you speak like that for everyone to hear," whispered Carson into Evan's ear, "I find it incredibly hot when you speak Greek."

Evan pressed his face against Carson's chest not saying anything and Carson did not say anything else. Gathering Evan in his arms Carson dimmed the light with his thoughts. They had been lying there for a few minutes when Carson felt Evan move and then he felt a hot breath by his ear.

"_I love you so much that it hurts, Carson Beckett_," whispered Evan sensually in Carson's ear.

Chills went down his spine and he could feel how he started to get hard, it really was hot when Evan spoke in Ancient Greek.

"What are you doing tomorrow? Have any plans?"

"Pray, tomorrow is time for the prayers."

* * *

Reviews anyone?


	6. Chapter 6

**SIX**

Strolling through Atlantis, John wanted to find a quiet place to pray and meditate. It was early, so early that the sun had barley raised above the surface of the sea, most people were still asleep and that was how he wanted it to be.

He needed time to think, it had been a few hectic days and John desperately needed some alone time to get his thoughts in line. With all the meetings he had been sitting at, the sword practice he had been brushing up on, even though his body never seemed to have forgotten how it felt to hold a sword and everything else going on, the test Carson had him, Evan and Cadman to do and all the questions he had to answer John had not had much time to just relax and think, to have some alone time always being surrounded by people.

After having walked through endless corridors and past so many doors, John came to a halt. He was standing in front of a door, it was a normal enough looking door, except for being completely plain like most doors on Atlantis, it had some pictures carved into it. It was not anything special, just images of different things but it drew him in.

Opening the door John stepped in. At first it was pitch black, it did not even help when he thought 'on', first when he stepped further into the room the lights went on. He knew he broke about every rookie rule that there was on Atlantis, especially the one saying don't touch anything in a room which you have never been in before, but he did not care. He did not get any weird feeling from the room; in fact he felt more at ease when he was inside of it he had an easier time concentrating his mind on one thing.

It was a square room; empty for most part the only thing he could see in the room was straight in front of him was a low shelf which reached from one side of the room to the other side. Over it hang a huge painting, or that was what it looked like, John was not really sure what it was supposed to be.

Taking a deep breath, John closed his eyes gracefully sliding down into his cloth covered knees. He was barefoot but he did not mind the slight cold from the floor, he was only wearing a pair of sweat pants and a loose white shirt, around his neck hung a golden chain with an eagle hanging from it. He gripped the eagle gently, pressing his lips gently against the golden eagle. John was sitting on his knees, his back straight and his eyes closed, hands wrapped around the eagle, it would get uncomfortable in the long run, but he did not care. He did not do this because he had to, he did it because he wanted to.

"_I have no offerings but my love towards you but please heed my prayer oh father of mine_," prayed John his lips continuing in a restless prayer.

All feeling for time and space disappeared; it was as if he wrapped himself into a small cocoon, where there was only him. It was as if he was sitting in a dark, dark room where the only light shone on him but nothing else. Thoughts faded away and worries melted, this was what pure bliss felt like, where nothing could hurt him or reach him, this was his place, only his and no one could take it away from him. If he was about to die the next day then he was happy he had at least gotten to do this once more before he died.

Death, what was death? Of course John knew he would probably end up in Elysium and then he would try to be reborn and then maybe get to the islands of the blessed at last. The islands of the blessed where his mother was living, when she had died and he had been grieving he had gotten a gift from Hades, he had told John that Elaine Sheppard was now living the rest of eternity in the islands of the blessed, she had been reborn three times and all three times she had gotten to Elysium and finally she had gotten her gift.

She had been a kind woman, very kind. He did not remember much of her but the soft fragrance of her perfume and her long raven black locks of hair. Elaine Sheppard nee Walker had been a kind woman, she had fought hard in her life and in a desperate attempt at saving her sons life she had given up her own. Hades had told John that once she in her former life before she became Elaine, had died and it was her turn to pay the ferryman, instead going herself, Elaine gave her money to the others that had been standing there for a very long time, she had felt bad for them. Because of this she had been granted one favor, taking her to Elysium for the second time. Thinking of that memory made John, happy and sad on the same time, happy because he was proud to call himself her son and sad because it would be a long time until they would see each other again, if they ever saw each other again.

After his mother's death John had been forced to move back in under his father's roof for good, nothing good had come out of it. They never saw eye to eye on anything, John had at a few particular moments thought that Patrick Sheppard would throw him out or hit him. John did not blame the man, many had told him that he was much like his mom and he knew it hurt his dad who had taken his wife's death very hard.

So what was death? He did not fear what was to come, he had never done it. Then again he knew what was to come, that if he lived a good life he would end up in Elysium even though he sometimes felt as if he was only worth the fields of Asphodel, only being the son of Zeus stopped that from happening, Hades would never let him end up there.

Life was his own rule over, he would make his own path and he would make his mother proud, for had not Zeus loved her so much that he had given her the gift of being able to carry children? Had he not loved her and guarded her until her last breath, John remembered how he had stood by her grave and a man had stood on the far end of the graveyard and when everyone had gone had wept by the grave.

There was engraving on the headstone, not anything any mortal could read, in ancient Greek only for the immortal eye to see, was engraved: _My love you are the ocean and the skies, you are as wild as the sea and as free as the skies, fairer than the moon and more radiant than the sun, like your immortal soul shall your memory remain, even if humanity dies and withers away shall the skies and the oceans sing of you, remember you._

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

"_With war and chaos you sweep across the land, I am your warrior I do your bidding now please help thy warrior who loves you the most_."

Evan, much like John was sitting on his knees on the floor, feet and upper body bare only wearing a pair of pants. He too had gotten up before dawn, immediately heading for his small hiding place he had found four days after he had arrived on Atlantis. It was a room or more of a small cave-look-alike and Evan loved it, it was a place where he could paint in peace and not has to worry about anything.

Meditating Evan slipped far into his mind, thinking of how he had met Ares for the first time, how the war god had looked down on him and grinned. It was something he would never forget, how the man had reached out his hand towards him and said, "_You will become a mighty warrior one day, will you when the times come be my warrior?_"

He remembered how scared he was when he had been attacked, he could still hear his mom's screams and his step-fathers agonizing cries when the flames rose to the skies in the night. Evan had been six at that time, Ares had saved his life, taken him to Adelaide who raised him and took care of him. She had helped him, supported him, laughed with him, wiped his tears when he had cried, all this she had done for him regardless of what would happen to her if someone found out who he was, regardless of the risk she was taking by housing a child marked by the gods.

He had felt terror and fear in his life, but that day the 24.7 the year he was six years old, he felt terror and fear he had never and never would experience again, being branded was horrible. Forever he would remember it, the ugly A branded into his skin, securely hidden from view and curious eyes.

In its self it was not an ugly mark, it looked like a tattoo, a big capital A made in black ink in the middle of an pentagram-ish looking picture, no it was not ugly, as an artist Evan had to admit it was a beautiful tattoo, it was what it stood for which was ugly.

Was it not for Ares and Adelaide then he would not be alive. They had raised him and nurtured him into the person he was today and he would fight for them, he would protect the honor of Ares. For, had not Ares shown him the way to camp half-blood? Had he not made sure Evan had a bed in his cabin? He gave him gifts and he showed him how to win in battle, Evan owed Ares his life.

He was not afraid of the battle, he was afraid of what would happen after that. If he died, there would be no mercy for him in Hades' realm, he was cursed he would suffer. It was his fate and curse to be the only living half-blood son of Atlas, holder of the sky.

Evan thought of Nadine, the wild and strong Nadine La Rue who at the age of five had been guided by Ares to Adelaide who had adopted her, she was only a few years older than Evan, and later on she had born Ares a daughter, Clarisse. Ares had helped her, he had protected her when Nadine as a member of the US army went on a mission and was forced to lead 500 men back through the Gobi desert hunted like deer, Ares had lead her through and guided her the whole way. She had suffered horrible, being honorably discharged from the army but she had showed that her faith in Ares was stronger than anything and he had helped her.

They had been very close and still were but it saddened him that they no longer could talk as often as they used to do, him being on Atlantis for most of the time and she in either Arizona or in a hospital did not leave much room for meetings or emails. Counting the time since the last time they met, Evan felt a twinge of sadness; they had not seen each other for almost two years now.

He wished with all might that everything would go well and that Hesperia would keep her promise, that she and everyone on that planet would keep away and not trouble them anymore if he, John and Laura won. It would not be an easy fight for anyone of them. John had showed that he was one hell of a swordsman but whether Laura was good or just fairly good with a sword Evan did not know as he had never seen her fight. Her footwork was good from what he had gotten glimpses of from her own individual training she did in the evenings but everything else he would find out the next day.

Evan had a hard time grasping that the days had gone so fast, they had flown past in a flurry of meetings, paperwork and practice. It had been hectic, he had barley had the time to breath in between his normal duties and all the extra things that seemed to have dropped onto his shoulders. Then again, if he compared his own schedule with how John's looked then he could as well be on vacation or something.

Pushing his thoughts far back into his mind, locking them into a small closet Evan dove deep into the depths of his own mental world he had created for himself. Reaching out to his father and protector, Evan prayed.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

"_Father, father the creator of my life, please guide my hand and lead me to a victorious battle_," prayed Laura, her eyes closed and the palms of her hands pressed together tightly.

She was sitting in her room on the floor, a small shrine dedicated to Hermes in front of her, which she usually stored in her closet. Unlike John and Evan she had not gotten up earlier, because she had the privacy of her quarters she did not feel the need to find a quiet place to pray.

Praying was hard and took a lot of effort, sitting on the floor in the same position was also very heavy and so she did not do it very often or for a very long time.

Laura's thoughts slowly rolled over to the topic her brain had been on for the past few days since she found out about Colonel Sheppard and Evan being demigods. In a way she felt a bit sad that Evan had not trusted her enough to tell her that they were much alike, but then again he had now known… What shocked her the most was who their immortal parent was, of course Colonel Sheppard never could do anything halfheartedly but for Evan to be a son of Atlas, she could not wrap her mind around it.

Her being a daughter of Hermes was nothing compared to being a child of Zeus or the titan Atlas, in a way she was jealous of them, but on the same time not. Neither of them had had an easy life because of their parents, John because of the oath Zeus had sworn and Evan because of him being cursed.

Laura had seen herself was an somewhat well informed demigod, but now after meeting the Colonel and Evan she had to admit that there was much she did not know of the world she lived in. Like, she had never heard of cursed children or known that the titans still had children how they did it she did not want to know, considering the fact that almost all of the titans were imprisoned somewhere.

She had had a very simple free life. Her mother had been twenty-four when she had met Hermes and Laura, not only four years later she had found Laura's dad and they had gotten married. At eleven she had gone to camp half-blood for the first time, meeting other people like herself. Laura had to admit that she had been lucky, being claimed only five days after arriving at camp not many were as lucky as her.

Like most people there she had never met her father and she did not think she ever would, she was just like any other demigod at camp. Of course some of the gods had favorites, children they gave a bit more attention to but it had never bothered her, it was enough that he answered her prayers which he usually did. Now after meeting the Colonel and Evan, they both being favorites of their parents or should it be step- dad when she spoke of Ares? It felt weird; they had spoken with the gods, seen most of them, spoken with them so much that they even had their favorites. It was as if they came from a totally different world than her.

Remembering back at her time at camp Laura smiled. She had liked it there; she had gotten many friends while she stayed there over the summers until she turned seventeen. Sometimes she wished that she would be able to go back in time to when she was at camp, old enough to enjoy he life but on the same time young enough to not have many worries.

Who knew what the next day would bring, if she even would come back alive. Colonel Sheppard had two days ago clapped her awkwardly on the shoulder, telling her that, "Don't worry about it Cadman, uncle Hades is fairer than most people think, just don't piss him off, either way most demigods end up in Elysium."

It had been scary and on the same time exciting, he had actually met Hades god of the underworld, and knew the god well enough to call him uncle. Or maybe he just did it to piss off the god, with Sheppard it was hard to know.

It was hard to concentrate when thoughts flew around in her head with no structure whatsoever, but she was determined to finish her praying before she gave up.

Almost five hours later Cadman stumbled out of her room, her legs aching and her head numb. She had spend such a long time alone in her room in complete silence that she desperately needed some social interaction or else she would go mad. It was six o'clock in the evening and she was starving.

While Cadman headed for the mess hall and all the people, John and Evan still sat locked in the same position that they had bent into hours before, praying. Somehow the praying was a way of finding inner peace and balance, it helped top collect ones thoughts and detach the mind from the body for a while.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS  
**

"_Oh father, guide me in this battle of your honor_."

"_You mighty warrior, guide me in this battle_."

"_Help me father of mine, guide me to victory_."

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

John's whole body was stiff from sitting in the same position for many, many hours but still he felt a certain peace as if he had been working out all those hours he had been kneeling in prayer. He did not run into anyone when he walked back to his quarters, he was not particularly hungry even though he had not eaten at all under the day, and so decided to skip the mess hall.

Food even though it had been a long time since he ate, John could not muster up enough willpower to eat, just thinking of all those people in the mess hall made him lose his appetite for some reason. Then again, it was not as if Rodney would let him starve and would highly probably force a sandwich or two into him before they went to bed. Thinking of Rodney made John smile, the gruff scientist may act as if he did not care but he did, probably more than anyone else John ever had met.

"Colonel! John, stop!"

John's body automatically stopped moving, he was only four doors down from his own, turning around he came face to face with Rodney.

"Yes?"

"I haven't seen you today," stated Rodney looking at John, "and so I in all my wisdom know that you haven't eaten and must be hungry but because of some odd reason you don't want to go to the mess  
hall and so I took a sandwich or two with me for you to eat."

It was almost creepy how well Rodney knew John, but it was not as if John would say no when the heavenly smell of turkey sandwich hit his nose. Rodney was dangling a small paper bag in front of John's nose filled with turkey sandwiches.

Not sure of what to say John let himself be guided by Rodney into their room, enjoying the feeling of Rodney's hand on his lower back. He did not say anything before they were both inside the room and the door was shut and locked.

"Thank you," said John happily munching on a sandwich. He really had been much hungrier than he had thought, and ate almost in one go, four sandwiches.

"So, are you prepared for tomorrow?"

"As prepared as one can be for something like this," said John.

"It'll be fine," said Rodney putting a comforting arm around John's shoulders.

"How can you say that? Anything can happen tomorrow," said John letting out a frustrated growl, "we have no idea who we'll fight against or how good they are but one thing I know is that Hesperia  
won't make this easy on us, she wants to win."

Rodney hushed him silently, lying back down onto the bed and pulling John with him, so that John's head was resting on Rodney's chest. It felt good just lying there listening to Rodney's heartbeats.

This was one of the reasons why John loved Rodney, the other man did not force him to talk, the gods knows Rodney speaks enough for both of them especially when he is nervous, the only thing Rodney expected of him was that when he wanted or needed something he would say it. Not keep it inside letting it tear him apart, at first it had been hard and in a way it still was but at least he knew that Rodney would always be there for him and help him. Living the way he had done, John had not exactly been encouraged to talk about his emotions and it had lead to him feeling very uncomfortable when he had to do it. His father, Patrick Sheppard, had been a hard man who did not care much for anyone else but his wife and reputation. He was a hard man to please and John had early on given up trying leading to many fights between himself and his father.

Nothing good came out of thinking of the man and even though he was dead, John still felt as if he was haunted by the man's judgment and set plans for his future. That iron hard gaze that had burned straight through him, unwavering and unapologetic. Yes Patrick Sheppard had been a hard man with high standards and still even in death he held a hard grip on John's life.

Little by little John was breaking himself free from the expectations and beliefs of his father. It was a slow process but like spring even how hard and long the winter had been spring came warm and clear, sweeping away all reminders of the cold winter.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

"Where do you think you're going, luv?"

Evan froze; he had just gotten back from praying and had fast changed clothes to something more fitting only to leave the room again. He even though Doctor Weir had said that they were excused from doing paperwork that day, Evan did not feel comfortable leaving all that work that had piled up over the day until the next day and so had thought he could fit in about an hour of paperwork before he would go to bed. He had not even heard that Carson had been in the shower.

"I have some paperwork that needs to be done," said Evan.

"Have you eaten?"

He could smell the soft scent of the soap that Carson used when the other man stepped closer. Evan watched Carson who was only wearing a pair of sweat pants and a clean t-shirt his hair wet.

"I had breakfast."

"You need to eat to keep up your strength, skipping meals isn't good," said Carson taking Evan by his upper arm leading him over to the bed where Carson made him sit down, "wait here, I'll get you some food."

Evan nodded and watched as Carson exited the room, not that it would take long to walk to the mess hall and back. That was of course if Carson did not run into anyone who stopped him to talk or someone needing something from the infirmary. Not that the needing something from the infirmary happened often, as most people respected that the doctor needed sleep and rest as much, if not more, than everyone else, and so if it was not an emergency usually waited until the morning if they did need something.

Resting his head onto his pillow Evan felt his eyelids getting heavy, it had been a long day and stretching his body felt great after hours of sitting in the same position. Not long after he had lain down and closed his eyes, Evan was asleep.

It barely felt as if he had laid down when he was shaken awake by Carson who was back with a sandwich and a glass of juice.

"Come one luv wake up, you need to eat."

"Carson?" murmured Evan tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

Evan accepted the sandwich Carson gave him and took a small bite. He could see from underneath his eyelashes Carson watching him while he ate. Evan cursed himself silently when he felt himself blush, he hated how easily he blushed when he was around Carson, the gods knew that with all things he had seen and heard there was not much that could make him blush but with Carson it happened almost daily. It was annoying how one look from Carson could make him blush like some virgin.

What was more annoying was when he was blushing like mad and then Carson would smile at him and pat his cheek telling him he was the most adorable person Carson had ever met. Evan knew that if it had been anyone else telling him that then he would either have hit or sent the person to a hospital faster than one could blink. He was a man, a major in the US army, he was _not_ adorable nor was he pretty or beautiful.

Evan was stopped in the middle of his mental rant when he felt a strong hand stroking over his jaw before the grip tightened lifting his head up. At first the blush got deeper, the red color getting even more pronounced before it settled a bit.

Before he could say anything, Carson leaned forward and kissed him straight on the lips, not pulling away until both of them were out of breath.

"I love you Evan," said Carson looking Evan deep in the eyes.

"I love you too," said Evan smiling sweetly.

He had barely uttered the words before he was pulled into a hug. Evan liked it when Carson hugged him, it was warm and comfortable it was safe. For Evan that was the most important thing, with the way he always had to be on his guard always make sure that he would not be exposed, it was nice knowing that there was a place where he was entirely safe. Maybe that was why he loved the man so much. He did not have to pretend or act strong here in their private space he could be Evan, just Evan and no one else.

* * *

Reviews?


	7. Chapter 7

**SEVEN**

Today was the day.

Like most times John went out in battle, whether it was in Afghanistan or here in the Pegasus Galaxy, he felt a certain calm determination when he woke up that morning. That nervous jittery and worrying feeling he had been carrying around for a week now, was completely gone.

They had decided that everyone not on duty would be allowed to come and watch the pankration if they wanted to, meaning everyone except for those who were to stay on Atlantis as security or because they could not leave, would be coming to watch. John was not sure how he felt about it, he could kill someone but he would never do it because he thought it was fun, and this was nothing but a big show of entertainment at least on Hesperia's part.

The pankration would start at noon and it was already 9 o'clock. John entertained the thought of waking up Rodney, the man had said he wanted to be there but on the same time John felt bad about waking Rodney especially when it still was so early. There was still three hours until they had to go through the gate or maybe not exactly three hours, as they would have to arrive a bit earlier. It was no secret that if Rodney did not get coffee when he had slept too little he would turn into a blood thirsty asshole and most people tried to avoid that ass the man in question could be a bit of an asshole even when he had slept enough and drunk enough coffee to fill the Atlantic Ocean.

John swallowed a giggle when he thought how those poor new scientists always seemed to be on the verge of tears after spending five minutes in Rodney's company, and how all the old personnel on Atlantis always seemed to spread horror stories of Rodney around to the new people that arrived. Some of those stories were quite hilarious, he and Evan, even Zelenka at some times, had a good laugh most of the time they heard a new one, some of them really were outrageous and John really wondered how someone could believe them.

"What're you giggling about?"

John, if he had not been lying down, would probably have fallen off the bed when Rodney muttered something still half asleep.

"Rodney," pouted John when he had gotten over the first shock, "don't scare me like that."

"Scare you?" said Rodney with a snort, opening both of his eyes to look at John, "seriously John…"

"Hmph," snorted John still pouting.

Rodney smiled at John's antics and patted him softly on the cheek, ignoring the cute pout his lover was sporting. At first when Rodney had met John he had found his lover to be the most beautiful person he had ever laid his eyes on, and of course like most pretty people Rodney had expected John to be snobbish and stuck up but had soon been proven wrong. John was not like anyone he had ever met, even though he was good looking he did not seem to notice it himself, if you complemented John he would just brush it off as nothing and get that uncomfortable look on his face. He was ready to give up his life for other people and he seemed completely incapable of accepting defeat. At first Rodney had thought that John was not the brightest crayon in the box but had soon been forced to change his opinion, John may act stupid but he was far from it. Rodney was would not be surprised that if John had not joined the army he would have worked with something involving numbers.

"Shouldn't you be getting up, you need to shower and eat before you go," said Rodney starting to get up from the warm and comfortable bed.

"Probably," said John with a sigh, rolling over so that he was lying on his back, taking over the whole bed.

Rodney watched with a hungry eye how John stretched his arms above his head arching his back, showing off a chiseled body with toned muscles. It was so easy to get distracted when John was around, but he forced himself to concentrate on getting dressed. Just knowing that he was the only one who got to see that perfect body and toned muscles, the perfect eye candy, was enough for Rodney to stay in a good mood for most of the day.

"Come on you need to get up," said Rodney.

Walking over to the bed, Rodney bent down to pull John up in a sitting position. John on the other hand, had other plans and when Rodney bent down, John wrapped his arms around Rodney's neck and when he stood up again, he found his lap full of John who was half sitting on his knees on the bed resting his naked upper body against Rodney.

It was nice, feeling the familiar weight of John's body leaning against him, especially as John was not wearing anything but the bed sheet that had slid off him. For a split second Rodney was struck with the notion that this could be the last time he saw John, even though the rational part of his brain told him that the chance was bigger that John would survive a small part of Rodney's brain did not want to listen. Instinctively Rodney hardened his grip on John, who let out a small sound of content; it was almost a purr but still not, he had never yet figured out what it reminded him of.

After many minutes of internal disputes and arguing, John had to get out of bed. Letting go of Rodney John slid down onto the bed before he started to look for some clothes to wear. He did not shower, he had done it the evening before and would highly probably want to take a shower after the pankration if he survived and so did not find it necessarily to shower that morning.

Dragging himself around the room John got himself dressed and it only took him seven minutes. Rodney sat on the bed reading a book, or trying to read a book but got distracted all the time by John who walked around the room first completely naked and then only in a pair of pants before he finally found his favorite black t-shirt.

"Okay, I'm ready," said John whilst putting on his earpiece.

"Let's go then, I at least am starving," said Rodney leading the way out of the room John following behind.

"You're always hungry Rodney," said John.

"Oh shush, I'm not always hungry," said Rodney with a wave of his hand.

John snorted but did not comment.

They gibbered about anything and everything on their way to the mess hall, once in a while stopping when someone needed something from John or if it was some poor scientist who drew the short straw and had to face the wrath of Rodney.

There was a light atmosphere and both were in reasonable good moods when they finally arrived at the mess hall. It was quiet in the mess hall, most early risers had already eaten and those that got up later had yet to wake up. Most tables were empty and so it was just to pick and choose where they wanted to sit.

In a blink of an eye an hour had passed, it was already eleven o'clock. Only an hour until the 'game' would begin. Weir had told him, Evan and Cadman, and in a way Rodney and Carson, to come up to her office at 11.30 and then they would go through the gate; everyone else would then get to go through if they wanted to watch. At twelve the gate would be shut and no one would get in or out until pankration was over.

When John and Rodney walked into Weir's office at exactly 11.29, the only ones already there was Evan and Carson. Of course, Weir was also there, sitting behind her desk signing paperwork. Cadman almost ran into Rodney in her hurry to not be late and stepped into the room two minutes past 11.30.

"Good I think we're all here," said Weir and turned her attention to the three demigods in the room, "you all have everything ready?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, then let's not waste anymore time," said Weir with her best diplomatic expression in place.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Evan had had a hard time sleeping and had after much turning and twisting fallen asleep. Only to wake up seven hours later, the digital clock on his nightstand showing 9.43 am. Beside him the bed was empty but Carson always rose early because he was often needed in the infirmary in the early mornings. Today he was not working but sitting by his computer going through some files while he waited for Evan to wake up.

"Morning…" mumbled Evan sleepily.

"Morning Ev," said Carson turning away from the computer screen.

He had to fight the urge of just lying back down burying himself underneath the soft covers and go back to sleep, but instead Evan sat up. Absentmindedly Evan scratched the back of his head almost falling off the bed when he got off it. He did not need to see Carson to know that the older male was smiling, chuckling silently.

Yawning, Evan grabbed the first shirt that came into his hand and pulled on his BDUs. He had made a bag where he had put his armor so that he would not have to walk around with it on too long before he would need it. He was stopped halfway when he was getting dressed by a pair of arms circling his waist pulling him closer.

"Carson…"

"You're so pretty that I just can't help myself," said Carson.

"Pretty?" said Evan.

"Yes, well cute, adorable, overly sexy, gorgeous take your pick," whispered Carson kissing Evan's neck.

"Oh shut up," said Evan breaking free from Carson's arms, "it's already 10 o'clock and I'm starving so let's go."

"Yes dear," said Carson.

Evan did not dignify that with an answer and instead poked Carson in the side with his elbow. He was desperately fighting a blush from spreading on his face. It was not the first time that Carson had called him dear, or luv or darling. Once or twice here in the Pegasus Galaxy people had even referred to him as wife! Wife! God he was glad the only ones who heard that are too afraid that he will kill them, to say anything. Evan did not even want to think of what would happen if someone like Laura found out about that wife comment, it would be the end of his career or more precise his reputation.  
Either way, back to Carson using all these feminine words for him, on one side Evan did not mind, if they were alone but out in public Evan liked, like most people, keeping his posture and face especially in front of his subordinates. It hurt, every time he was reminded of the fact that it was impossible for him and Carson to ever be open about and not have to hide their relationship for the sake of Evan's career. Marriage also was impossible, he was gay he would never get married or have kids, yes he loved Carson, very much so too, but sometimes he really wished he was not gay. He loved kids, he had always gotten along well with them over the years he had come to accept the fact that he highly probably never would have any kids or get married. Okay marriage he could live without but he had always thought that he maybe would get a kid.

Evan let out a small sigh; it did no good thinking of those things. He had a good life and he did not suffer but on the same time he could not help but sometimes grieve the losses, the things he would never be able to have. Had he been thinking of this a few years back it would probably have hurt much more but now he had Carson who took away some of the pain.

Then again, if he ever had children they would be as targeted by the gods as he was, being the offspring of a cursed child. He would never wish such a life upon anyone, especially his own children. It was a harsh world out there and it would be even harsher being hunted by the gods.

Pushing the evil thoughts away, Evan concentrated on the food in front of him. He had been so deep in thought that he had not noted when they had arrived in the mess hall, he had not noted much on the way either. Now was not the time to drown in self-pity, he could do that later right now he needed all the concentration he could muster for the upcoming hours.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Laura was nervous, she had faced dozens of monsters in her lifetime and she had gotten alive out of every encounter but somehow this was different. It should not be, but it was. Fighting humans were always different from fighting monsters, of course there was always the chance that the people there on the planet were not demigods or their descendants and so would not be hurt by the celestial bronze but…

She, Colonel Sheppard and Evan had spoken about that possibility; if it was so then they would have to consider the possibility that they would have to use their hands to kill their opponents. Of course, if the celestial bronze was of no use then they would be in a seriously bad spot as they did not have any other weapons.

Amazing abilities, born fighters blessed by ancient powers but even the greatest of gifts have weaknesses, being a demigod gives you one foot in each world. One part is mortal one is immortal, and as indestructible demigods are, they are also gifted with the weakness of both sides.

Both mortal weapons and celestial bronze can kill a demigod, as her mother used to say, with great powers come great responsibilities and downsides. It annoyed her to no end how right her mother always was when it came to these kinds of things. That was probably why Hermes had been attracted to her mom, not that Laura knew much of her mom's time with Hermes. Only that her mom had known that he was a god and which god and that, they had been on a few dates but that was about all of it.

Hurrying down corridor after corridor, Laura prayed that she was not too late for the last meeting before they would step through the gate. How did it happen that every time they had a meeting or something else concerning the demigod/pankration stuff she was late? It was annoying and just a tad embarrassing that even McKay was on time. She was supposed to be military and here she was running like a crazy woman down the corridors, embarrassing was the word.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Rodney was staring, then again who would not be if they were in his shoes. There had been built a huge arena a few meters from their village which could be seen from the gate. It was huge, almost like the Coliseum but built in a more Greek fashion. How they had managed to build it in only seven short days and with a very limited manpower and with the tools they had it should have been impossible.  
He was gaping he knew it, but he could not stop himself, taking a look at his co-workers they too were a bit perplexed by the sudden appearance of the huge arena. There was huge banderols in different colors bearing the symbol of each of the twelve Olympians. Rodney was only able to recognize a few of them, and even then he was not sure if he had gotten them right.

With every step that they got closer to the village and the arena, the sounds of laughter and loud noises got more prominent. It was obvious that for them this was some kind of fun, festival of sort, it was kind of gruesome in Rodney's mind. They had no idea who would come out as the winner of these matches and here they were laughing and joking when people would die. Highly probably a very painful death, then again if they were stuck in ancient Greek ways then it came as no surprise.

They were met by Hesperia and a small group of what Rodney guessed was servants of some sort. She was smiling as if she was welcoming them to a garden party or something, it made Rodney sick. He did not like her one bit, she gave him the chills.

"Welcome, this is a fine day to finish this," greeted Hesperia them, "it will start soon so you may wish to change into your armors."

Rodney watched as John, Cadman and Major Lorne were shown to a small house/cabin beside the arena. He would probably not, see them before the tournament would start.

"Let me show you to where you will be seated, I hope you three are not the only ones to come and see this enjoy full event," commented Hesperia.

"No we aren't," said Weir, before neither Rodney nor Carson could say anything, "people are already coming through the gate, I hope you'll keep your side of this bargain."

Hesperia chuckled in that happy but one the same time cold way, that made Rodney feel very uncomfortable. It was no human laugh, it was hollow and void of all emotions.

"My dear Doctor Weir you have nothing to worry about, I just hope your fighters are ready to die," said Hesperia.

"Don't be too sure of that," said Weir coldly.

"Well we will see in a few hours whose right," said Hesperia.

She showed them into the arena. They had gotten the honor seats, where you saw everything that happened, with no one in the way. People were filling in from the four entrances; Rodney could even spot some of the people from Atlantis.

Excitement, worry, there was so many emotions filling the air, that it made Rodney's head spin. He could almost imagine himself in Ancient Rome when they still held Gladiator fights, the emotions and the excited people rooting for their favorites, the blood that spilled onto the ground and the horrible agonizing screams when someone was killed.

"God, it feels as if I have elephants running around inside of my stomach," said Weir in a low voice so that the natives would not hear her. They had dubbed the people on the planet, natives as they were not sure what to call them. They did not have any name that was used and so they had become the natives.

"Me too," said Carson with a sigh, "couldn't sleep because of all the worrying."

"I really hope that they'll get out of this alive. They're all needed on Atlantis," said Weir.

"This is Sheppard, Lorne and Cadman we're talking about, of course they'll make it," snapped Rodney but he too was worried, doing his best not to listen to the small part of his brain whispering 'what if…'.

"Let's hope you're right Rodney," said Weir.

The three of them sat in their given seats watching people take their seats. No one of them said anything, afraid that if they said something bad they would jinx it.

"Excuse me? I am Phoebe and by Lady Hesperia's order I am to explain to you take care of you while the pankration is going on."

Rodney watched Phoebe, she was young, maybe somewhere between 10 and thirteen with dark hair and brown eyes, wearing a toga.

"Care for us?" asked Weir.

"Yes my Lady," said Phoebe.

"Okay then, when will it start?" asked Rodney, not even attempting to sound nice.

Phoebe looked up at the sun, covering her eyes with her hand.

"It will not take long."

Phoebe was right; it did not take long before it started. Rodney almost had a heart attack when the high pitch signal came, and the doors to the arena were shut. All the ear numbing noises that had been floating around sunk to a low murmur of excited voices.

Rodney watched as Hesperia walked out on the arena and the stands exploded in cheers at least there where the natives were sitting. Everyone from Atlantis just sat quietly watching in fascination what would happen next. Hesperia said something but he did not understand, she spoke in Greek.

"Lady Hesperia is keeping a welcome speech," explained Phoebe to Weir, "after that the first fighters will be announced and then the game is on."

"How long will it take?"

"It depends on how long before someone gets the chance to put in the killing hit," said Phoebe.

"Barbaric," muttered Rodney.

"It is pankration."

"Oh, it seems the first two fighters have been announced."

Cadman and another person walked in on the arena and Hesperia took her seat in the audience. From what Rodney could see if it came down to strength then Cadman would lose, the man she was up against was huge even bigger than Ronon and built like a house, it was nothing else but muscle. Somehow Rodney could not see how Cadman would get out of that one without dying.

He was already waiting for the fight to begin when the man, whatever his name was Rodney did not care, stepped back and threw his head back and bellowed to the sky. You could have heard a pin drop afterwards, Rodney was just on his way to ask what the hell that was when Cadman much like the man did something similar.

"Um, what did she say?" asked Carson.

"She said and I will quote her, 'Hermes my father help me strike down this fool in front of me who thinks Enyo is stronger than you father of all thieves'," said Phoebe.

"Huh?" said Rodney.

"It is for everyone to know who is your patron or matron, after all you fight pankration for the gods and their honor," said Phoebe.

While Phoebe was explaining this to Rodney, Weir and Carson had the fight begun. Cadman used her speed and lightness but it was clear that it was a tough fight. Even though much bigger was remarkably fast on his feet pushing Cadman hard.

Every time the man would get in a hit on Cadman, Rodney felt Weir flinch. Then again, he really wondered if she was okay, with the amount of blood she seemed to be losing. Looking over to where Hesperia was sitting, Rodney saw the woman smiling a content smile as if she already had seen how the fight would end. It was discouraging to say the least.

"Oh my god! Di – did Cadman just cut the arm of that man?" asked Carson sounding more fascinated in some odd and twisted way than grossed out. Weir looked green and Rodney himself felt a bit queasy when he watched the now lifeless limb lying there on the arena floor.

Cadman did not seem to care; she had a wild glint in her eyes and her sword in a tight grip in her hand ready to pounce at any sign of weakness from her opponent. It was madness. Rodney could no t wrap his mind around the fact that people watched this for entertainment and enjoyed it. He would be traumatized for years afterwards.

He did not know whether she got in an lucky shot or if she had it all planned out but suddenly Cadman stood there with her sword raised above her head, grinning like a mad man, her opponent on the ground blood welling out from a wound to his heart. Rodney with the rest of the Atlantis people was happy that she had won, cheering loudly. Or well everyone else cheered, Rodney clapped his hands smiling, a somewhat relieved feeling growing inside of him.

"Congratulations, it seems as if you have taken the first win," said Phoebe not sounding very upset of the fact that the one she should be rooting on had lost.

Taking a glance at Hesperia Rodney let out a small satisfied laugh, a small smile on his lips. She was furious, looking as if she was ready to commit murder.

"What're you grinning at Rodney?" asked Carson.

"Look over there," said Rodney and pointed to where Hesperia was sitting.

They both got a good laugh before Hesperia once again stood up and went down to the arena, the second fight would soon begin. It was time to announce to two who would be fighting. Cadman had been directed somewhere probably to get her wounds looked after but it was hard to know. Who knew, maybe the natives just got her out of the way so that they could kill her without anyone finding out as a punishment for having killed their guy.

"It is your – what did you call him – Major Lorne's turn to fight he is up against Esperides," said Phoebe sounding worried.

"You sound worried," stated Weir.

"Yes, Esperides is in no one's favor except for Hesperia's, he is cold and ruthless, and loves to kill, he is a monster," said Phoebe with a shudder.

"That doesn't sound too good," said Carson and Rodney could hear the worry in his voice.

"No it certainly is not," whispered Phoebe.

Everyone's gazes moved back to the middle of the arena where Major Lorne and the Esperides man had came out, standing face to face. Even though there was a good heads difference in height and the very obvious blood thirsty look in the other man's eyes, Major Lorne did not look very worried. No, he looked rather calm and collected for being in his position.

Like Cadman and that other man had done, Esperides threw his head back and shouted to the sky, whatever it was Rodney did not want to know. Then it was Major Lorne's turn, it was odd how graceful the man looked, like John he was gorgeous. Had Rodney not known exactly how competent Major Lorne was then he would have thought modeling would have suited the man better.

"Is it wrong of me to think that, that was the sexiest thing I've ever heard?" asked Weir blushing a bit, but no one could deny it, somehow Lorne made ancient Greek sound very good and attractive.

Looking out over the crowd, Rodney made an well educated guess that most people in the arena found it attractive and very appealing, it seemed as if Carson had some competition.

"What did he say?" asked Carson.

"I quote, 'I salute you fathers of mine, this battle I shall win in your names, for Atlas is my creator and Ares my life giver," said Phoebe.

With much fascination Rodney followed the match closely. There was no big difference in power, Rodney even guessed that here it was Lorne who was the stronger one physically. In this fight it would come down to which one of them would be crueler, more blood thirsty one.

"Oh, have I missed much?"

Rodney almost fell off his chair in shock when Cadman plopped down in a chair beside him.

"Cadman!"

"What?"

"What're you doing here?"

"Watching, duh," said Cadman.

She looked a bit pale her arm in sling, it seems broken and many, many bruises and wounds from her opponents blade. Other than that she seemed ok and alive, with no life threatening injuries.

"No I mean up here," said Rodney.

"Well you people are here and I had my fight, I'm fine so I don't really see the problem," said Cadman.

Rodney decided to ignore the annoying woman and turned back to watch the fight. It was cruel it was brutal and Rodney was very happy he was not the one down there. Lorne was limping a bit, blood running down his leg from a deep wound on his thigh. He had both his sword and his dagger out, the blades covered in red crimson blood.

People were screaming and cheering the two fighters on, it seemed as the audience had not seen enough blood yet. It was nauseating to watch and Rodney could feel the bile rise in his throat but he forced it down with cheer willpower. Now was not the time to get sick, he would never live it down.

A gasp came from behind him, it was Carson, redirecting his gaze back onto the arena, and Rodney watched how Evan's sword was forced out of his hand. Now only wielded with a dagger, the future did not look too bright for Major Lorne.

That notion was soon banished from Rodney's head when he watched Lorne attack Esperides, kicking sand into the other man's eyes before he somehow managed to disarm Esperides. Rodney watched in disbelief when Lorne put away his dagger and did not pick up his sword but instead kicked Esperides down into the ground. Standing over the native fighter, Rodney watched Lorne with his bare hands break the other man's neck. The sickening crunch of the bones breaking rang out over the whole arena, no one said a word. Not even the wind blew, everyone were staring in shock to where Lorne was standing on top of Esperides dead body, as calm as ever.

"Your fighters are good," commented Phoebe sounding a bit awed.

"Why thank you," said Cadman sounding content with herself.

"I do not think I have ever seen Esperides lose before," said Phoebe.

"Well everyone got to lose at some point in their lives," said Rodney.

It was time for the last battle to begin; Hesperia was once again down on the arena announcing who would be fighting. Rodney noted that she looked just a bit tenser than she had been when Cadman had won her round. It left a very good feeling inside of Rodney when he thought of it.

John when he stepped out on the arena was wearing his customary grin and that slouch that he must have been born with. Rodney forced himself to shut his mouth and the worry that he had been carrying around flamed up even stronger than before when he watched John down on the arena. These two were probably in height and power the best matched but it was hard to say by just looking at them, it would all be revealed as they fought.

"His opponent his Akiros, he is the best warrior beside Lady Hesperia," said Phoebe.

"That doesn't sound too good," said Weir.

"No it is not," said Phoebe.

"What did he say?"

"'My father you who gave me all, will you now give me strength to win this battle for your honor'."

The fight started. It was fast and aggressive, they were just a flurry of movements and at some point it was even hard to say who was who of them. Rodney's heart was beating so hard in his chest that he thought it would jump out of his throat at least that was what it felt like.

Rodney was fascinated with the deathly grace that John moved with, there was no say about it John was good. Now he could only hope that John would be good enough to get through this ordeal alive.  
By the looks of it, neither of them would give up easily.

While John fought, appeared Lorne his leg patched up a bit ruffled and moving stiffly but other than that, alive and okay. Rodney listened with half and ear Carson's worrying over Lorne who just laughed good humouredly at the doctor.

"Phoebe, that's your name right?" asked Evan of Phoebe, Rodney only listened half not daring to take his eyes off John for a second.

"Yes."

"How did Hesperia get her hands on that jewel she always has with her?"

"It is said that she is older than some of the stars, when my grandmother was a young girl was Hesperia already around leading us, looking exactly the same," said Phoebe a bit unsure if she was allowed to tell them about Hesperia, "it is said that Lady Hesperia was blessed by the Goddess Hebe."

"Hebe? The goddess of youth?" said Lorne.

"Yes."

Rodney was not sure what Lorne was after but he did not have the time to ask as what happened down on the arena took all his attention. John looked a bit banged and dusty as if he had rolled on the ground, which he had done a moment ago. It was a fiery battle, Rodney watched on horror and relief as John somehow got past Akiros defenses and with one fast trust pushed his sword through Akiro's throat. Blood seeped out from the wound, and the dead body slumped to the ground when John pulled his sword out.

Relief flooded him, it was such a strong feeling that Rodney thought he start crying. John had a tendency to end up in dangerous situations but never had Rodney been more afraid to lose him than this day.

People were cheering and laughing, they had won, Atlantis would get to keep its military commander, the SIC and a good recruit. Rodney almost laughed when John turned around and looked up to where Rodney was sitting in the audience, and gave him that careless grin and a wink. It was such a John thing to do.

Things would go back to normal, no more odd fights to the death or odd jewels except if they were not done by the Ancients' of course.

"Can we go home now?" asked Cadman.

"Yes, let's get back as fast as possible I don't think it will do us any good to loiter," said Weir.

"Finally," muttered Rodney who just wanted to go and find John who was no longer standing on the arena but had probably also been taken to the side to be bandaged and looked over.

"I don't think I ever thought I'd say this, but I can't wait to get a normal problem on my hands, with wraith and ancients at least they're easier to deal with and it's less likely that I'll go gray with worry," said Carson.

"You're not the only one," said Lorne with a laugh.

"Yes that wouldn't be too bad," said Weir with a longing look on her face.

"Well let's not waste anymore time," said Rodney a bit impatiently.

* * *

Is anyone reading this fic? If so, please review and tell me what you think of it!


	8. Chapter 8

**EPILOGUE**

John was happy, all had gone well no one was dead or too badly hurt, he had gotten out of it with a hurt shoulder and a sore ribs but nothing worse than that. Not only that he was back on Atlantis and he would not have to worry about Hesperia or the natives anymore. It seems as the natives were not the most popular ones in the galaxy, well with those who knew them, it was one of the planets that was more isolated but then that had probably to do with Hesperia. That woman really knew how to scare away people even though they were nice enough to people who visited them, had probably something to do with the fact that they did not care for the ancients.

John was sitting on the bed in his quarters trying to read War and Peace but his mind was wandering all the time so he had not gotten far. Most people thought that he did not read much because he always seemed to be on the same place or never seem to get to the end of the book, the truth was John had read the book many times through. He could almost quote a whole chapter from the book; he knew the book by heart by now. It had been one of his favorite books for a long time, ever since he heard that there existed such a book as War and Peace, it was his mother who had introduced it to him and read it for him the first time.

Putting the book away John resumed his thinking, his unfocused eyes were staring out from the window somewhere over the sea. He was not sure on how long he had been sitting there when the door opened and in stepped Rodney.

"Find something interesting?"

"Huh?"

"You're staring John."

"Oh, no I was just thinking," said John blinking a few times.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine Rodney. Even Carson said I was okay, my shoulder is one big bruise but other than that I'm okay," said John.

"Well excuse me for being worried, you do have to admit John that you have this ugly way of brushing everything under the carpet and saying 'I'm fine'," said Rodney sitting down on the bed beside John.

"I'm really fine Rodney, honestly," said John looking Rodney straight in the eyes.

"Good," said Rodney.

John did not answer but kept his gaze on Rodney who was looking just as intently back at John as John was looking at him. John hesitated for a moment but decided to push his insecurities away, now was not the time to think of them.

"Rodney…," started John softly breaking eye contact for a second, "I want you to kiss me."

"With pleasure Colonel," said Rodney.

John felt how one of Rodney's hands slid behind the back of his neck and then he did not think anything else as a pair of lips connected with his. Short but gentle kisses, John liked it when Rodney kissed him. With Nancy it had never felt like this, with her it had been something he had to do, with Rodney it was pure magic.

Somehow while they were kissing, John ended up lying with his back onto the bed with Rodney on top of him. His legs spread John moaned when he felt Rodney's weight in between them. Before he had met Rodney John had not thought much of sex, frankly he had not spend much time having it either, memories of having sex with Nancy those awkward and a bit embarrassing times were not some of John's better memories and did not make things better. But with Rodney it was different; John liked having sex with Rodney, he liked the feeling of having Rodney inside of him, or just kissing him softly like he was doing right now.

"Rodney…" moaned John.

"Well aren't you in a hurry today," teased Rodney gently but did not be told twice before he started getting rid of John's clothes.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

"What're you doing out here at this time?"

"Oh my god Carson you scared me," exclaimed Evan with a hand over his heart that had almost jumped out of his chest.

"Sorry about that. So what're you doing?"

"Cadman was tired so I helped her back to her room, she was dead on her feet," explained Evan.

"You should also rest, it's been a long day. Actually you should not even be putting too much weight in that leg, it looked better than it was, it'll need a few weeks to mend," said Carson giving Evan a pointed look.

Evan knew very well what that look meant, it was the, you should be resting not walking all over Atlantis; you'll be of no use if you don't let the wound mend – look.

"I know and I was just on my way back to rest," said Evan hoping that Carson had not noticed that he had been headed for his office.

"Oh really? Are you sure you weren't on your way to your office?" said Carson with a small grin when he watched his lover pout.

"I hate you," muttered Evan with a pout.

"Come on, you can work tomorrow. Right now you need to rest," said Carson placing his arm around Evan's shoulders.

"But… but…" stammered Evan, his leg was just aching a bit but that was normal considering his artery in the leg almost had been cut but what would it hurt if he took a short trip round his office to look at  
how much paperwork had piled up while he was busy doing other things.

"No buts luv, your leg must be aching by now," said Carson watching Evan stammer and protest, unconsciously running his hand over his hurt leg.

They walked a for a short while when Carson noticed Evan slackening a bit in his pace, walking a bit slower than he usually does. It was not overly obvious but as a doctor, especially since he came here to Atlantis with patients like John and Evan had learned to read the signs of the body and not the voice, could see that Evan's leg was hurting more than he let on.

"Evan stop," ordered Carson.

Evan immediately stopped his body reacting to the tone of Carson's voice. He had no time to either protest or guess what would happen when he felt himself being scooped up into Carson's arms, carried bridal style. A blush spread over his face like wildfire, he probably would put a tomato to shame with the color red that colored his cheeks.

"C-Carson! People could see us," choked Evan out.

Not that he minded being carried, it felt nice getting the weight of his hurt leg and there was something oddly comfortable and intimate being carried like this. Of course, he would never admit that to anyone, after all he had a reputation to keep.

For every step they got closer to their room and privacy Evan relaxed bit for bit. He was still tense but that had more to do not being used to being carried and the worry of being caught by someone than anything else. Resting his head against Carson's shoulder Evan fell asleep, exhausted from the hectic week that had passed.

**STARGATE: ATLANTIS**

Laura happily accepted when Evan asked her if she wished for him to accompany her back to her quarters. She was dead on her feet; it felt as if her eyelids were made out of lead. It was almost impossible to keep them up. They walked talking little about everything, it had been some time since they last had been able to do this and it was good for both of them. Laura enjoyed talking with Evan, they had been friends for a long time, immediately clicking when they met for the first time, she liked his more sarcastic and dry humor.

It had felt like she had walked hundred of kilometers the short track back to her rooms but it had sucked up the last of the energy she had left. Looking at Evan she had to admit that he did not look much better than her, on the other hand whether he was drenched in mud, soaked or completely normal Evan always looked good.

Saying goodnight to Evan Cadman stepped into her room, she did not even have the strength to remove her clothes, kicking off her shoes not caring to pick them up from where they landed; Laura fell down on her bed. She was asleep even before her head hit the pillow.

**-THE END-**

* * *

So that was it. I hope it was good and that you enjoyed reading the story!  
If I may say so it's one of the better ones, and probably the story I liked writing the most :)


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